Harry Potter, Gaming Wizard Extraordinair
by Dreetje
Summary: When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When life gives you the powers of a game character, you become the best character you can possibly be. Harry Potter wasn't just a Wizard. No, he was much more than that. With his powers, he'll become the strongest and kick the Dark Tosser's ass while doing so. Watch out world, Harry Potter is a new man and he's not to be messed with.
1. Chapter 1

**AN.**

**This is a new story I've been working on. I would like to know if people are interested in reading more about it or not. Any suggestions or remarks are more than welcome, just keep it polite. I know I have been inactive when it comes to my other stories. Reason is simple. I lost interest in them. No excuse other than that. I still hope to finish them one day but for now, they are on the backburner.**

**Anyway, if you like this first preview of this new story let me know. I currently have a few chapters written but I'm still revising them daily.**

For once Harry woke up after having a pleasant dream. Those didn't come very often to the almost eleven year old boy as his life wasn't really a happy one; it wasn't the worst either but it definitely could be better. No, last night he had dreamed of being the main protagonist in a video game. A few days ago, his relatives had gone on a day trip leaving Harry alone in the house free to do whatever he wanted; as long as he finished all his chores of course. So when he finally ran out of stuff to do for his uncle and aunt, he had started up his cousin's game station and spent the next few hours immerged into the RPG game he had started up. Harry had absolutely loved the game and wished that he too could be a hero that would go on quests, find hidden treasure and save the princess and eventually the world. How cool would that be?

Unfortunately, Harry wasn't a hero that saved the world. He was just Harry, a normal ten year old that lived with his uncle and aunt. On top of that, for some reason unknown to Harry, his relatives really disliked him. He had been doing most of the household work for years and that included cooking, laundry, gardening and so on. The only thing he wasn't allowed to do was cleaning but that was only because Aunt Petunia was such a clean freak that she didn't think anyone but her could properly clean the house. Basically, he was somewhat of a servant to them. Sure, they took him in after his parents died and gave him clothes and food but still, he had quickly realized that they resented his presence at their home.

His cousin Dudley was even worse. Harry wasn't someone to use the word hate a lot but to him Dudley was the only person that he came close to hating. Mostly because Dudley was a bully and Harry was his main target. His cousin and his gang of friends were already known as the neighborhood ruffians but of course to his aunt and uncle, Dudley was the perfect little boy. If you can call a 150 pound eleven year old, little. Anyway, Harry's life was far from being perfect but for now it was the only life he knew so he had to endure. One day he would slam the door in his uncle's fat, round face and hope it hit him square in the nose; which Harry doubted as the belly fat would surely stop the door at least a meter before his uncle's face.

**You have slept in your bed. HP & MP are fully restored.**

Now that he was somewhat awake, he stared in amazement at the floating blue screen in front of him. He quickly looked around to see if someone was playing a prank on him but he only saw his meager possessions that were stored in his cupboard under the stairs.

'What is going on?' Harry wondered. 'Is this a joke?'

Before he could question the blue screen any further it disappeared. Somewhat relieved at that, his brain jumpstarted and he started thinking about what he had just seen. Unfortunately, his aunt started banging on his door to wake him up and ordered him to start cooking breakfast.

"I'll be right there Aunt Petunia." Harry replied quickly.

"Don't burn the bacon this time!" His aunt shrieked.

Harry quickly got dressed and ran to the kitchen in order to start making breakfast. He had little time as soon Vernon and Dudley would be coming down and if there wasn't any food on their plates when they reached the table there would be hell to pay. Vernon would be yelling obscenities at him while Dudley would start fake crying accusing Harry of doing it on purpose.

As he gathered the needed ingredients a new blue screen popped up in front of him which caused him to cry out in shock. Luckily his aunt was upstairs so she didn't hear it.

**A Quest has been created.**

**Quest Alert**

**Feeding the Masses: make breakfast**

**Make a good breakfast for your relatives without burning the bacon.**

**Completion Award: 500 Exp.**

**Yes – No**

Seeing as he had no choice but to make breakfast Harry pressed the option 'Yes' and started cooking. He would figure out what was going on later but for now he better get breakfast ready.

Ten minutes later, Harry put the food on the table just as his relatives entered the kitchen. Without as much a glance in his direction the Dursley's started eating and ignored him as per usual. Harry however was staring at the three of them. Or rather he was staring at the blue screens that floated just over their heads.

**Vernon Dursley – Director at Grunnings – Lvl 16**

**Petunia Dursley – Housewife – Lvl 13**

**Dudley Dursley – Bully – Lvl 4**

None of his relatives seemed to know that they had blue screens floating over their heads and Harry knew better than to mention it. The Dursley's were against anything that they considered abnormal; and they thought a lot of things were abnormal.

A new screen appeared in front of him and Harry did his best to read it without his relatives noticing it.

**You've completed the quest. You fed the masses without burning the bacon.**

**Completion Awarded: 500 Exp.**

As he closed that screen another one appeared in front of him just as fast.

**A special skill has been created through a special act.**

**By creating a perfect breakfast, the skill, 'Cooking' Lvl. 1 has been created.**

Trying not to seem too shocked and surprised Harry kept quiet and figured he could figure all this out later. So when his Aunt chased him out of the kitchen and told him to get dressed, he quickly ran to the bathroom. Once there he noticed the same blue screen floating over his head but his has somewhat more information.

**Harry Potter –? – Lvl 2**

**The Gamer**

'Huh?' Harry thought. 'What the hell is going on? What is this 'The Gamer' thing? And why is there a question mark here. And really? I'm only a lvl 2 while Dudley is Lvl 4? That's so unfair.'

Harry continued to stare at the screen but no matter what he did it remained. He tried to wave it away but it wouldn't budge. He sighed loudly and knew that he had no time to think about it now. He needed to get dressed and ready for school. Harry didn't particularly dislike going to school as it was a way to get out of the house but again Dudley and his gang made life difficult for him there. With no friends of his own, Harry was pretty lonely at times but no matter what he tried the other kids just avoided him. Dudley's threats of hurting them if they were friends with Harry certainly helped in that department.

On his way to school Harry just gaped at how every person he encountered had a blue screen floating above their head. For some reason the screens displayed their names, professions and what level they were. Not that that made any more sense to Harry than all the rest. As he reached the school and entered the classroom he quickly sat down and looked at the teacher's blue floating screen.

**Patrick Patterson – Teacher – Lvl 18**

One by one his classmates entered the classroom and sat down. Once the bell rang, Mr. Patterson started his class and Harry made sure to pay attention. Mr. Patterson was a very strict teacher and he didn't tolerate students that didn't pay attention to him. Even Dudley, who didn't like school at all, was on his best behavior here. Harry rather liked the man, he was strict but fair and when you did your best during his classes, he was really cool and nice. Of all his teachers he liked him best. As the morning went on, Harry tried to ignore the blue screens and promised himself to think about it during lunch break.

Finally after what seemed an eternity lunch had arrived and Harry made himself scarce. As usual he ate his meager lunch by himself in his secluded spot just behind the janitor's shed where nobody would bother him.

"Alright, let's try and figure this out." Harry said to himself. "I woke up with blue screens appearing everywhere; I received a Quest to make breakfast and when I completed it, I got 500 EXP and a new skill. That's the kind of things that the hero of the game I played had to do. So why do I see it? I'm not in a game, am I?" He started pacing around as he suddenly got a bit nervous with everything that happened. "Wait, before I went to sleep I wished that I could be like a hero like the one I played as in Dudley's game. Does this mean that my wish came true?"

Suddenly Harry started laughing because if his wish had come true than his life was really looking up. What exactly he could do with this new ability he didn't know yet but he would find out.

"Let's see, in the game you had screen where you can control and check everything." Harry mused. "Menu"

Nothing happened but Harry wasn't about to give up that easily.

'Okay, that's no good.' He then went through several other words until he came up with the word 'Status'.

As soon as he had said the word status, a larger blue screen appeared in front of him.

**Name: Harry James Potter**

**Age: 10**

**Class: The Gamer**

**Title: Elementary Student **

**Level: 2 **

**HP: 100**

**MP: ?**

**STR: 1**

**VIT: 2**

**DEX: 3**

**INT: 4**

**WIS: 2**

**LUK: 2**

**Status Points: ?**

**Status: ?**

**Harry Potter is last member of the Potter Family. His family's history and past are unknown to him as his parents died when he was just a baby. There is something really special about Harry Potter but just what? **

"Now we're getting somewhere." Harry exclaimed. "Not too sure about what all this means but it's a start. So, I'm currently at level 2 while others have much higher levels so this must mean that as you get older you level up? But Dudley is the same age as me and he's Level 4 so that doesn't seem right. In the game you level up by gaining EXP and doing quests so perhaps I can do that as well now. I get the "HP' part, those are obviously my health points but what about the rest?"

Trying to figure this out he tapped the STR stat and a new screen popped up.

**STR: ****Strength affects how much damage you do with physical and weapon attacks and how much damage your ability to parry reduces**.

"Sweet!" Harry thought. "So the higher this is, the stronger I get. Just like the game." He then looked at each item one by one.

**VIT: ****Vitality impacts your total HP and endurance. The more vitality you have the more damage you can take and the longer you can fight. This also impacts how quickly you recover HP while not in combat.**

**DEX: ****Dexterity affects how effectively you can dodge attacks and how accurate your own attacks are.**

**INT: ****Intelligence impacts your total MP; how quickly your MP recovers and how much damage your Magic causes. This also impacts your ability to learn and memorize information.**

**WIS: ****Wisdom affects how smart you are and how well you can use what you know. This has a massive impact on your INT status**

**Status**: **Throughout your life you can acquire and unveil any number of status effects both temporary (i.e. Poisoned, Sleep, etc.) and permanent ones. Some permanent effects can only be gained through genetics while others require specific actions.**

**Title: ****Earn your title and gain varied and sometimes beneficial titles throughout your life.**

Harry sighed at all this information. While not really difficult to understand it was a lot to process. Unfortunately recess had come to an end and now he would have to go back to class and forget about this new development until tonight. The rest of the day Harry's mind was always going back to what he had just learned. Luckily the teachers didn't notice how distracted he was and didn't call him out on it.

The last class of the day was something that Harry dreaded the most. P.E was his absolute worst class and he always got picked last when it came to deciding teams. On top of that he was just pants at playing sports; football didn't interest him and neither did any of the other sports that they played. Today they would be running again and he wasn't looking forward to it.

By the end of class Harry was sweaty and so exhausted that he almost missed it when he received three notifications.

**Exercising has caused your STR to go up by 1.**

**Exercising has caused your VIT to go up by 1.**

**Exercising has caused your DEX to go up by 1.**

"Wow, really?" Harry asked to no one. "Just because I ran and did some sport, my levels in STR, VIT and DEX went up by 1 point. I'm never complaining about P.E again."

Harry was now pretty sure that whatever this was, it made him like some hero character in some game. The evidence all pointed in that direction and while he still didn't know where it came from, it excited him to no end. Already he could see the possibilities this would give him. While he hadn't really played Dudley's game all that long, he had quickly grasped the basics of it and that was enough for him to figure out what was going on. Sure, a lot of unknown things remained but he would cross that bridge when he got there.

'If I can get stronger than Dudley and his gang, then I will never have to run again.' Harry thought. 'I will never have to back down from something again. Watch out world, a new Harry Potter has arrived!'

Later that evening, he was sitting in his cupboard and went over what he had learned that day. He rechecked the Status menu and wondered what other menus this new power would provide for him. So racking his brain to remember the game's menus he uttered the word 'Skills' and to his delight a screen appeared in front of him.

Again, he felt like some things were pretty common sense here. Not really difficult to understand so he moved on to the third screen.

**Skills: by performing certain actions you can gain new skills. You can learn an infinite number of skills that will help you get through life. Some are simple (Exp: learning how to cook) while others are complex. Skills will level up by using them often. Beware however that some skills take longer to master based on their complexity. Some skills will evolve into a new/different skill once mastered.**

**Gamer's Mind – Passive – Max – **Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.

**Gamer's Body – Passive – Max – **Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. After sleep in a bed he restores HP, MP and all status effects.

**Cooking – Active – Lvl 1 – **Gives you the abilities to cook delicious food. High level skills will allow you to cook nourishing foods that will help you grow a healthy body.

'Awesome. So for the moment I only have 'Cooking, Lvl 1 as an active skill but that will change soon enough.' Harry knew. 'What about an Inventory? Do I have that as well?'

Sure enough another screen appeared overlapping the previous one.

**Inventory: you can stow away all your equipment such as books, items, clothes, weapons, etc. The inventory can hold an infinite number of items but only a certain amount of each item can be stored. You can store up to a 100 pieces of each item. To put an item into the trunk simply open the INVENTORY screen and drag the item into the screen. The item will automatically be stored away. To use a stored item simply grab the item and drag it out. Everything placed in the INVENTOY will not waste. Foods will remain in perfect state as the day they were put into the INVENTORY.**

'Okay, that's seriously cool.' Harry laughed. 'If I put all my stuff in here then nobody will be able to steal from me ever again.'

So that's what he did. One by one he dragged the precious few items he cherished into the Inventory and watched as they were now safely stored away. If anything, to Harry this was the best thing ever. He had no doubt that if he ever got something really important, Dudley or his uncle would take great pleasure in taking it away from him. This way his belongings were safe and sound.

Harry knew that there were still some things that he needed to look at in detail but he was getting tired and thus he decided to wait until the next day. Besides, in a few weeks it would be summer holidays and thus he would have lots of time to figure out this new ability of his.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the first chapter. I can't address all of you but I can try to answer some of the most frequent questions.**

**Yes, this is a crossover with the manga 'The Gamer' to a certain extent. I'll try to mix in some elements from RPG and other games as well. **

**I have read a lot of stories with elements from games and I love them so for those of you who have read those kinds of stories, you might find a lot of common ideas in this story.**

**In this story, Harry will slowly discover this ability. For example, creating dungeons will only be possible at around third year. No worries though, he'll level up by doing Quests until then. And yes, Harry will be powerful compared to some of his friends, but against Voldemort and Death Eaters, he'll have to work hard to catch up.**

**I have written several chapters already but I'm constantly adding or revising them. I won't go too deeply into the gaming elements as sometimes it can get really complicated. I'll try to keep it simple and easy to understand so people don't get confused. I include myself in that.**

**The story will keep very close to Canon for the first years but I'll slowly go AU around third and fourth year. **

**Pairing is Harry/Fleur. I'm still debating on adding anyone but while I love Harem stories, I'm not sure I can pull it off. We'll see.**

**No real Bashing will be done. I'm no fan of Ron Weasley but I don't hate him either. Just as in my previous HP stories, he just won't play that big of a role. He'll be there but more on the background.**

**You have slept in your bed. HP & MP are fully restored.**

Harry closed the message and started his morning rituals. His aunt ordered him to cook breakfast just like every other morning but unlike the day before no quest was received. Harry didn't really care about his 'Cooking' Skill but the EXP that was rewarded upon completion of Quests was something he wanted badly. Hopefully other Quests would become available soon.

Once he arrived in school he took a closer look at everyone in his classroom. His fellow students weren't strangers but they weren't familiar either. Some of them he hadn't even spoken with and they had been in the same class for several years. Harry noticed that most of his classmates were either at around Lvl 3 or Lvl 4 with a few exceptions. Mostly the kids liked sports or outdoor activities had a higher level than others. This made Harry decide that he should start doing some exercise or some kind of sport that would enable him to get stronger.

'I'll never be weak again.' Harry promised himself.

As he continued to study his classmates, a new screen appeared in front of him.

**Through continuous observation, a skill to find target's information, 'Observe' Lvl. 1 has been created. By using 'Observe' you can learn more about people and their Stats.**

Giddy at earning a new skill, Harry didn't waste any time and discreetly used 'Observe' on the girl sitting right in front of him.

**Jessy Winters – Student – Lvl 3**

**HP: 125**

**MP: N/A**

**Mrs. Winters is one of your classmates. She likes ballet and dancing but doesn't like boy sports.**

'Hmm, that's interesting.' Harry smiled. 'I've never even talked to her but now I know what she likes. I wonder what kind of information I will get when I level up this skill.'

During the rest of the day Harry used his new skill to learn more about the people in his surroundings. Most of it was useless information but that didn't discourage Harry at all; Rome wasn't built in one day after all. Also, he remembered that during the game he needed to spend a lot of time working on his character for it to level up. While he was anxious to get stronger, he knew that during schooldays it would be very difficult to do so, which was why he was already planning out his summer.

As he arrived at his relatives' place he noticed that his aunt was watching her daily show and so he just went to the kitchen and started preparing dinner. While he was doing that, he peeked into the living room and used 'Observe' on his aunt.

**Petunia Dursley – Housewife – Lvl 13**

**HP: 700**

**MP: N/A**

**Petunia Dursley nee Evans is your only remaining blood-relative. She has a fierce dislike of her sister, Lily as she thought of her as abnormal. **

'Nothing new there.' Harry sighed. He knew of how much his aunt disliked his mother and father. Dislike was actually an understatement; hated would be more accurate. For what reason he didn't know and he wasn't about to ask her as his aunt could be quite vicious when she was angered. He stopped this train of thought as a new screen appeared.

**[Observe]'s level has risen by one.**

'Cool, I leveled up 'Observe' already.' Harry thought happily. He used it again on his aunt but no new information was given. 'Probably need to level it some more before I get more detailed information.'

For the next two months Harry used all of his free time to improve on his skills and his stats. It hadn't been easy as he hadn't received any more Quests so no EXP was earned during this time. However, his other stats had been improving ever so slightly. Thanks to the exercising he had started doing he had managed to raise his STR, VIT and DEX stats with two points each. His biggest success was with 'Observe' however; thanks to using it constantly, it had reached Lvl 7 which made Harry very happy. Now he would get some more information about the subject or item but nothing too personal. That was fine with him as he had no desire to know this or that person's biggest secrets.

Now that it was summer however, Harry was planning on improving on all of his stats. But his focus was going to be on finding a way to level up some more. He was getting tired of being the weakling and that needed to change urgently. He hoped that he would find some way to level up soon.

'I need to find some Quests in order to gain EXP.' Harry mused. 'But where can I find any. The only one I ever got was that Quest to make breakfast for the Dursleys.'

Not wanting to get too obsessed, Harry got up from his bed and got ready for the day. No doubt his uncle would have a whole list of chores ready for him to do. As he entered the kitchen, he noticed that his uncle was already sitting at the table which surprised Harry as that rarely happened.

"Listen up boy, it's high time you start earning your keep here so I talked to the neighbors and you'll be doing some chores for them." Vernon started out. "And you better do a good job because if I hear one complaint, so help me God, you'll be in that cupboard of yours for the rest of the summer. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Harry replied quickly, knowing that this was the only right answer.

"Good, now I'll give you a list of chores each day so come see me each morning before I leave for work." Vernon spat. "Today you'll be working at the Jenkins house; they need help planting their new garden."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Harry replied again before he left the house. The Jenkins lived a few blocks away from the Dursleys and while he had never been there, he did know their son, Billy. He was a few years older than Harry but an okay guy.

Ringing the doorbell, a beefy man opened the door and greeted him politely.

"Ah, you must be young Harry." Mr. Jenkins smiled. "Come in, we got lots to do today so best get started."

"Thank you, sir." Harry answered.

"There's no need to thank me, lad." Mr. Jenkins laughed. "I need a young back to help me out so I'll be counting on you today. Are you up to that?"

Suddenly a screen popped up in front of Harry which made him smile.

**A Quest has been created.**

**Quest Alert**

**Get those thumbs green.**

**Help out planting the garden.**

**Completion Award: 500 Exp.**

**Possible bonus reward for a job well done.**

**Yes – No**

Harry quickly pressed the (Y) as he finally received a new Quest. Mr. Jenkins seemed to be very happy to have Harry's help so after giving him some instructions, he left Harry to get started.

For the next few hours, Harry worked in the garden and planted several new trees, shrubberies and flowers. It was pretty hard work and while not extremely hot, it had him sweating like crazy. Luckily the Jenkins' were really nice people and they gave him enough water throughout the day and they even gave him some sandwiches for lunch. Harry discreetly put two of those into his [Inventory] for later.

It took Harry the rest of the day to finish the work in the garden and completing the Quest. But when he finally saw the screen pop up indicating he had successfully ended the Quest and earned 500 EXP, he couldn't be happier. As he closed the screen, a few others popped up.

**Working hard has caused your STR to go up by 1.**

**Working hard has caused your VIT to go up by 1.**

**Working hard has caused your DEX to go up by 1.**

"Yes, another level on my stats." Harry exclaimed happily quickly checking his status screen for the new improved stats. "STR, VIT and DEX are going up nicely but I really need to do something about the rest too."

"Alright Harry, thank you for a job well done." Mr. Jenkins told him as he left. "I might have some other jobs for you later this summer. Are you interested?"

"Definitely Mr. Jenkins." Harry nodded. "I'll be happy to help out."

"Excellent! Here is something for your trouble." The man said handing Harry 10 pounds. "You've earned it."

"Thank you, Sir." Harry said happily. "See you soon."

When Harry reached his relatives' house he quickly put the money in his [Inventory] and went inside. His aunt was, once again, looking at the television and ordered him to get started on dinner. Harry figured it was an ideal moment to get something for him as well. He didn't approve of stealing but frankly, he was getting tired of eating incorrectly or just enough to sate the hunger. So when he finished cooking the food, he made sure to put a few potatoes and a few leafs of salad into his [Inventory]. He would have preferred to have some meat as well but that would be too obvious.

Every day Harry received a list of jobs to do around the neighborhood. However, these were different from his first Quest as they didn't give him any experience but rather gave him a small monetary reward. Also the jobs were a lot smaller than at Mr. Jenkins, so he could do five of them a day and still have some time left to spend it however he wanted. The money was a nice bonus as up till now, he never had any of it. After doing five Daily Quests a day for the rest of the week, Harry had earned up to almost 150 pounds.

Today however it was Sunday and he had no Daily Quests to do so he was wondering around on his own. He was feeling happy thanks to his achievement of the last week even though none of his stats had leveled up since the beginning of the week. Today however there was a flea market a few blocks away and that's where he was headed. He didn't know if he would find something but it didn't hurt to look. It only took him half an hour to reach the market and he quickly started browsing the place.

Most of it was old furniture, toys and knickknacks but here and there Harry found some interesting stuff. One person was selling dumbbells and weights for only 25 pounds and Harry was very interested in them as they would definitely help him exercise. So he engaged the seller about them.

"They're topnotch. I'm only selling them because I bought a new set." The man told him.

"How much do you want for them?" Harry asked.

"25 pounds and they're yours." The man answered.

"I'll give you 15 for them." Harry said trying to haggle a bit. "They are a bit rusty and could use a bit of a clean."

"15? No deal." The man replied outraged. "22 pounds."

"18" Harry countered.

"20 is my last offer." The man shook his head.

"Deal." Harry said happy to have saved 5 pounds.

**A special skill has been created through a special act.**

**By negotiation a good deal, the skill, 'Negotiation' Lvl. 1 has been created.**

Harry's face lit up when he saw the message of his new earned skill. He thanked the man and dragged the box of dumbbells out of sight so that he could put them in his [Inventory]. They were pretty heavy and he didn't want to carry the box the entire time. Once he did that he quickly opened his Status menu and inspected the new skill.

**Negotiation – Passive – Lvl 1 – Gives you the abilities to negotiate with people to get what you want at a fair exchange. The higher your level in skill, the easier it will get to get your way.**

"That's useful." Harry grinned. "I'll have to make sure that this skill is leveled up quickly."

Returning to the flea market, Harry used his new found skill to get fair prices for the other things he bought. Amongst them were some sneakers and a few other clothing articles as the only clothing he had were Dudley's castoffs and those were too big on him. He also bought a few books on science and economy that he found pretty interesting. All in all, he had a fun and rewarding day.

The next few weeks went pretty much the same for Harry. He received his Daily Quests from his uncle and then completed them so that he could work on his own little things. Thanks to his Daily Quests, he now had a small but steady income and it had allowed him to buy some food so that he could eat properly. He had been exercising as well with the dumbbells and that had increased his STR with a massive three points, his VIT and DEX went up with one point each.

Thanks to reading the books he bought he had also improved his WIS by two points and his INT by one point.

**You have slept in your bed. HP & MP are fully restored.**

Today was his cousin's birthday and Harry wasn't looking forward to all the chaos that would come along with it. Dudley was spoiled to the core and each year he got more and more presents. If by some accident he got less presents than the year before, he would throw a tantrum and cry for hours and hours. So his parents made sure to give him more and more each year.

As he started on Dudley's special birthday breakfast, Harry tried to pay no attention to his relatives. It was hard not to notice Dudley shout out that he only got 39 presents this year and how his day was ruined because of it. Harry rolled his eyes when he heard his aunt's promises to pick up another present later today.

"Boy, we're going to zoo today." Vernon told Harry once breakfast was finished. "We were going to have you stay at Mrs. Figgs but she's out with her broken leg. So you'll come with us but you had better be on your best behavior. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Harry nodded, not looking forward to spending a whole day with his relatives. 'Dammit, I would have preferred going to Mrs. Figg over this.'

As expected the day turned out to be a total bore for Harry. He was supposed to stay behind the Dursleys so that they wouldn't be associated with them but close enough that his uncle could keep an eye on him. Harry didn't mind the zoo as it was pretty fun to see all the animals. He was interested in the predators like lions, tigers, bears and such because they had strength and would do whatever it took to protect their family. Harry admired that. He did feel sad for them as these beautiful creatures were coped up in small cages for the rest of their lives. Honestly, that's how he felt at the Dursleys and he didn't like it one bit.

Dudley and his friend Pierce, who had been invited along, were less interested in the animals but more into antagonizing them from afar. Again, Harry felt sorry for the animals. They spend lunch in one of the many restaurants in the zoo before going to the reptile house where all the snakes and other reptiles were housed.

Again, Harry made the tour on his own, away from the Dursleys. As he stood in front of the cage of one enormous snake he stopped and read the sign that said that the snake was a Boa Constrictor and was originally from Brazil but was bred in captivity.

"Poor guy; bet you wouldn't mind going to Brazil." Harry whispered softly. To his shock, the snake lifted his head towards him and started hissing at him.

§You're a speaker?§ the snake hissed at him. §I've never encountered a speaker before.§

§You can understand me?§ Harry asked in surprise.

§Sure can.§ The snake replied him. §I don't suppose you can get me out of here?§

§Sorry, I can't.§ Harry answered.

§Nah, that's fine.§ The snake shrugged. §It's not so bad here. At least they give me a fat mouse every now and then.§

§I got to go. My relatives are heading this way. §Harry said quickly.

§Bye.§ The snake said before he moved away from the glass.

**A special skill has been discovered through a special act.**

**By talking to the snake, you have discovered the skill, 'Parselmouth' LvMax.**

Harry quickly closed the screen before he moved on to the next cage. He tried to suppress the smile on his face at having discovered a special skill.

'And it has LvMax too.' Harry thought. 'I'll check it out later. Better not to do anything that might set off Uncle Vernon.'

So for the rest of the day Harry acted like he was supposed to; he kept to himself and stayed out of trouble. Vernon seemed to be relatively pleased because he only growled at Harry when they reached the car. After dropping of Pierce at his parents' house, they quickly got home and each went his own way. Harry quickly went to his cupboard and opened his Skill menu.

**Gamer's Mind – Passive – Max – ****Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.**

**Gamer's Body – Passive – Max – ****Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. After sleep in a bed he restores HP, MP and all status effects**.

**Cooking – Active – Lvl 7 – Gives you the ability to cook delicious food. High level skills will allow you to cook nourishing foods that will help you grow a healthy body.**

**Observe – Active – Lvl 9 – Gives you the ability to learn more about people and items. The higher your level of 'Observe', the more details you learn about the subject.**

**Negotiation – Passive – Lvl 3 – Gives you the ability to negotiate with people to get what you want at a fair exchange. The higher your level in skill, the easier it will get to get your way.**

**Parselmouth – Passive/Active – Max – Give you the ability to talk to and understand snakes. Careful who you show this to as some people might react negatively.**

'Hmmm, that's pretty cool.' Harry thought. 'Don't know when that will be useful but it's still cool nonetheless.'

**You have slept in your bed. HP & MP are fully restored.**

Harry woke up with his aunt banging his door once more. Sighing he got up and made his way to the kitchen to make breakfast for his relatives.

As they sat at the table, Vernon instructed Harry to get the mail that should have arrived. Harry sighed at his uncle's laziness but made no protests. It wouldn't help anyway. As he reached the mailbox, he quickly scanned the mail to see if there was anything important. There were a few bills and a postcard from Aunt Marge, his uncle's sister. The last letter however gave him quite a shock as it was addressed to him. Quickly he put it in his Inventory and delivered the other letters before he left the house.

Once he was at the park he sat down on one of the benches and took out the letter. Studying it closer he noticed that the letter seemed to be made out of parchment instead of normal paper. It was sealed with a wax seal that he had never seen before. Tearing open the seal he unfolded the letter and started reading.

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL **__**of**__** WITCHCRAFT **__**and**__** WIZARDRY**_

_**Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore**_

_**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
>Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)<strong>_

_**Dear Mr. Potter, **_

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. **_

_**Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. **_

_**Yours sincerely, **_

_**Minerva McGonagall **_

_**Deputy Headmistress **_

Harry didn't quite know what to make of the letter to be honest. Was this some kind of prank?

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Harry read once more. "Is this for real? What do they mean by 'await your owl'?"

Not having any idea what they mean by that he was kind of lost what to do next. Figuring it couldn't hurt to try something he quickly wrote a small letter saying that he had no clue what was going on and if they could give him some more information. Now the only problem was getting it to that place as he had no owl to send it with. Suddenly a brown owl landed in front of him and stuck out its leg. Harry was a bit surprised but figured that if magic did exist, it would be capable of something like this so he gently wrapped the letter on the owl's leg and watched it fly away.

'How weird.' Harry thought as the owl disappeared from sight. 'Oh well, we'll see what happens.'

Later that day, hundreds of miles away, a woman read the letter that the owl just dropped on her desk. A frown appeared on her face as she finished the letter and she got up. Leaving her office she walked through the hallways up to where she knew her colleagues were gathered.

"Good afternoon all." She greeted her fellow teachers. "I have some urgent news concerning one of our future students."

"Are you okay, Minerva?" One asked her. "You seem a little rattled."

"I'm fine, Fillius." The woman nodded. "However, we have a possible situation at hand. One that must be dealt with immediately."

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Another woman offered.

"Very well; as you know today we have sent out the Hogwarts letters for the coming year." Minerva said explaining. "I received a reply from one where he write back asking for more information and if this letter was some kind of joke."

"Not unusual is it? Muggleborns are often skeptical about the existence of Magic, after all." Fillius answered. "I don't really see the problem. We can simply visit the family and explain the situation."

"Yes, that's true but in this case the writer is no Muggleborn." Minerva admitted. "He is from a rather prominent family and by all accounts he should have been aware of his heritage."

"Okay, stop being vague." A woman called Pomona Sprout said. "Who are you talking about?"

"Harry Potter." Minerva sighed as she watched the shock on her colleagues faces.

"Surely you jest." Fillius said outraged. "Mr. Potter not aware of his magical heritage? How is this even possible?"

"You know as well as me, Fillius that Mr. Potter was placed with his relatives for his protection and therefore has no connection to our world." Minerva answered. "Albus placed him there in order to shelter him from his fame and his past but we figured that his relatives would have explained about his family and his abilities when he was old enough."

"Well clearly that didn't happen." Sprout snorted.

"Indeed so now we have the most famous wizard since Albus Dumbledore unaware of his heritage." Minerva nodded. "Would any of you have an idea how to proceed?"

"Seems pretty simple to me." Fillius said. "One of us goes and explains all of this to him. Minerva, I think you would be best suited to do so. You were the head of house of both James and Lily while they were here."

"Very well, I just wanted to give you all a chance to be the one to explain everything to Mr. Potter." Minerva said. "I'll go and visit him first thing tomorrow morning."


	3. Chapter 3

**You have slept in your bed. HP & MP are fully restored.**

Harry woke up and actually forgot about the letter as he didn't get any reply whatsoever so he just dismissed it as a prank. Honestly, he had enough on his plate as it was. Still, it would have been great to go to a Magical School and be away from his relatives. Not to mention all the cool Magic he would be able to learn.

"Get up and start making breakfast." His aunt yelled at him.

"Yes, aunt Petunia." Harry said.

Just as he was about to serve breakfast someone knocked on the door and Harry was ordered to see who it was. When he opened the door, Harry stared at the woman in front of him. She looked to be in her seventies and had a stern look in her eyes. Harry gulped slightly as he was a bit intimidated by this woman. The little screen above her head told him that her name was Minerva McGonagall, which was the name mentioned in the letter. Trying to be polite, he greeted her with a smile.

"Hello, can I help you?" Harry asked.

"Mr. Potter, my name is Minerva McGonagall and I'm here to explain some things to you about the letter you received yesterday." Minerva answered. "May I come in?"

"Oh, yes of course. Please, come in." Harry said quickly. "I have to warn you though; my relatives aren't the nicest of people. Especially when it comes to me."

"I'm sure I can deal with them. This isn't the first time I've had to deal with people like them. I'll take care of it, no worries." The woman replied with a smile. "Why don't you get them and we can get this over with."

Harry could tell from the expression on her face that this woman meant business and that she wasn't someone to be messed with so he quickly guided her to the living room and offered her a seat saying that he would get his relatives. As Harry thought, his uncle exploded into rage and stormed into the living room.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Vernon yelled at the woman.

"Mr. Dursley, I presume." Minerva said calmly as if Vernon hadn't even raised his voice at her. "My name is Minerva McGonagall and I'm here to speak with your nephew about his acceptance at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"No, not a chance." Vernon interrupted her. "He won't be going. No way, get out. Get out of my house now."

"Mr. Dursley, that's just not possible;" Minerva said calmly. "Mr. Potter has been accepted to Hogwarts just as his parents were before him. He's a Wizard and thus he should be taught in order for him to learn about Magic."

"You knew my parents?" Harry interjected. "Can you tell me about them? I know nothing about them, just that they died in a car crash."

"A car crash? How preposterous. James and Lily weren't killed in a car crash." Minerva exclaimed shocked. "What have you been telling this boy?"

"We didn't tell him anything about his freakish parents!" Vernon yelled. "And neither will you. I want you out of my house."

Minerva simply stared at the man in front of her and continued to do so until Vernon started feeling very small. Harry was very impressed at this and was honestly glad the glare wasn't directed at him. To his surprise, his aunt stepped forward and put her hand on her husband's shoulder trying to calm him down.

"Vernon, please calm down." Petunia begged. "It's no use. These people will not back down and perhaps it's better if he goes. That way we'll be rid of him for the year."

"Wait, you know about all of this?" Harry asked his aunt. "You know about Magic?"

"Of course I know, silly boy." Petunia hissed at him. "How could I not? Oh, I remember when your mother received her letter to this so called school. Our parents were delighted; a witch in the family. What an honor. I was the only one who saw her for what she truly was. A freak. Every summer she would come back and fill my parent's heads with stories about Magic and other nonsense. They were so proud of her." Here, she paused a bit to get her emotions under control. "And then she met your father and got pregnant with you before she got herself blown up."

"Blown up?" Harry whispered shocked to his very core.

"That's quite enough." Minerva said sternly. "I can clearly see that Harry and I aren't welcome here so we will go somewhere else where I can explain his heritage to him. I must say that the impression that I had all these years ago about all of you was proven correctly and to my everlasting shame, I'm partly responsible for putting Mr. Potter in your home. Mrs. Dursley, I'm sure your sister is appalled at how you have treated her son when she couldn't. I pray you don't meet her in the afterlife as I'm sure she won't be happy with you."

She then motioned to Harry to follow her. She kept on walking until they reached a remote part of the street where she instructed Harry to grab her hand.

" , I will use a Magical way of transporting us to Diagon Alley." Minerva explained. "This might be slightly uncomfortable."

Harry nodded and then suddenly felt like he was sucked up into a tube before they reappeared into a busy street filled with people. His stomach turned and he had to do his best not to throw up. Once he got his bearings he looked up at the older woman and took a deep breath.

"That was more than slightly uncomfortable." He deadpanned causing the woman to get a small smirk on her face. "What was that?"

"That, Mr. Potter, was Apparation." She said while guiding him towards a building. "Now please stay close to me. I will explain everything shortly."

Harry just nodded and followed her into a building and watched as she greeted the bartender and asked for a private room. The man greeted her with reverence and quickly offered them one of the rooms saying that he would bring some refreshments.

"Now, we have a lot to talk about so please hold off your question for after." Minerva told Harry. "As I said, my name is Minerva McGonagall and I'm the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. I received your letter yesterday and found it very disturbing that you didn't know about your magical heritage. To keep it short, you are a Wizard. Just like your parents were before they died and just like them you have been accepted to Hogwarts. The Wizarding World, as we call our world, is hidden from the normal world in order to protect us. It has been that way for hundreds of years".

For the next hour or so, Minerva explained everything about the Wizarding World and how it came to be. Then she started to talk about how an evil Wizard, one that she refused to mention by name, only calling him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. She explained to him how his parents had fought this madman and how they were eventually killed by him on Halloween 1981. She then continued to tell about how his name was known to everyone in the Wizarding world thanks to him surviving the Killing Curse.

**You have discovered a key element of your past. You have now received the status 'Boy-Who-Lived'. This status comes with a buff of +25% EXP gained by completing Quests.**

"I know this must be very overwhelming for you, Mr. Potter." Minerva sighed. "I wish it wasn't so but I'm afraid I can't change the past. Do you have any questions?"

"So I'm famous here and people call me the Boy-Who-Lived? My mum and dad were murdered because they opposed a Dark Wizard who then tried to kill me as well?" Harry asked stunned. "But why? Why did he want to kill me? How did I survive a Curse that killed thousands of people before? I just don't understand."

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter, but as to why he tried to kill you and how you survived is something that I cannot explain to you." Minerva said sadly. "I'm afraid no-one really knows how it happened. I only know that thanks to the sacrifice of your parents and you, the Wizarding World was saved from destruction."

"So that Dark Wizard is gone?" Harry asked her. "He's dead right?"

"Some people believe that he is still out there." Minerva answered honestly. "Others believe he's gone for good and will never terrorize our world again."

"What do you believe?" Harry wanted to know.

"I believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was a powerful Wizard. Perhaps even the most powerful Wizard since Albus Dumbledore." Minerva replied. "I don't know what will happen in the future but I do know that Hogwarts is the safest place to be in the whole of Britain. At Hogwarts you will learn how to use Magic, how to become strong and make friends. I have no doubt that you will be a most impressive Wizard if you put your mind to it."

"So what do I need to do now?" Harry wanted to know. "I mean, I have no money to pay for school or the things mentioned in the letter."

"That's very easily remedied. I'm sure your parents have left you more than enough money to get through the seven years at Hogwarts." Minerva smiled gently. "All we need to do is visit Gringotts and have someone escort you to your vault."

"Gringotts?" Harry asked her.

"The Wizarding Bank, run by Goblins." She explained. "It's just outside so if you are willing, I will help you get some money and then we can get the items on your list."

"Then please lead on." Harry motioned to her.

As they left the building Harry noticed that it was called 'The Leaky Cauldron' and that it was a gateway between the normal World and the Wizarding World. As they walked through the busy streets of Diagon Alley, Harry paid close attention to the people in the street. Again, everyone had a blue screen floating above them with their names and their level displayed. Harry used the time to use [Observe] on Minerva as he hadn't done so.

**Minerva McGonagall – Deputy Headmistress – Lvl ?**

**HP: ?**

**MP: ?**

This surprised Harry as up till now he had always been able to read the information but this time all he got was her name; profession and a bunch of question marks. He used [Observe] on several other people in the street and while sometimes he could see all the information, most of the time it remained hidden to him. After a few more tries Harry gave up and figured that his level wasn't high enough to get all the information.

Minerva led him through a big, white building at the end of the street and Harry stared at it for a bit. Before they went inside, Minerva warned him not to insult or belittle the Goblins working there as they could be very dangerous and vicious. Harry promised to be on his best behavior and followed her into the bank.

It didn't take them long to get to the front of the line and Harry let Minerva do the talking for now. She and the Goblin behind the counter seemed to be in a heated discussion before the Goblin turned to him.

"Mr. Potter, are you in possession of your vault key?" the goblin asked him.

"No Sir, I have no key. I was only introduced to this World a few hours ago." Harry answered honestly.

"Well, then we'll have to get you a new one." The Goblin smirked evilly. "If you would please cut your hand and let some blood drop in the bowl on your left."

Harry looked to his left and saw a big bowl with some funny looking liquid floating inside it. He carefully took the knife that the Goblin handed him and made a small cut in his thumb and let some blood fall into the bowl. As soon as the blood touched the liquid it started changing colors until it turned a bright red.

"Well, it seems you are who you say you are." The Goblin smirked. "Please wait in the lobby. Your new key will be ready in a few minutes."

"Thank you." Harry said politely and followed McGonagall to the lobby.

"Ma'am, what would have happened if I wasn't the person I said I was?" Harry asked interested.

"Best not to think about it, Mr. Potter." Minerva said quietly. "Goblins take their business very seriously and anyone trying to jeopardize that will pay a heavy prize for it. Remember this, Mr. Potter, never try to steal from or cheat a Goblin as it will probably be the last thing you do."

A few minutes later, another Goblin came up to them and told them to follow him to the vault. Harry did quite enjoy the ride down but Minerva was looking a bit green which made the trip somewhat hilarious to young Harry. The Goblin, named Griphook, according to the blue screen above him didn't talk much but that was fine. Once at the vault, Griphook showed him how to open it and Harry went inside. When he saw the contents of his vault he was shocked to see all the gold coins that were stacked neatly in heaps that were twice his height and some even higher than that.

McGonagall quickly explained the value of each coin and while it was very different from the normal world, it wasn't all that difficult to understand. As to Minerva's instructions he filled up a money pouch with some gold coins and several silver and bronze ones to pay for this school supplies. However, when she wasn't looking he quickly shoved a great amount of coins into his Inventory for later. Hopefully, he would be able to exchange some into normal currency later on. As they went back up, a message appeared which he read quickly before closing it.

**By getting access to your own vault you can now store away any items, money or possessions in this vault. This will make your [Inventory] easier to manage.**

After leaving the bank, Harry was dragged from one shop to the other. Books, clothes, potion ingredients and supplies and so on were all on the shopping list and while Harry would have loved to take his time and explore, it seemed that Minerva was in a bit of a hurry.

"Come along, Mr. Potter." She told him. "The final item on your list is also the most important one. We need to get you a wand."

Now this was something that he had been waiting for. All afternoon he had seen people use their wands to do Magic and if it had been up to him, he would have gotten that one first but McGonagall wouldn't hear of it. Harry had quickly learned not to contradict or anger the older woman as she could be quite scary.

"Ah, Mr. Potter." The man in the shop exclaimed when he saw him. "I was wondering when I would see you."

"You were?" Harry asked a bit uneasy.

"Why, of course." The man laughed. "I'm Ollivander, at your service."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Ollivander." Harry greeted.

"Well, let's get to it." The man said happily. "Follow me."

It took Harry over thirty different wands before he finally found his own. It was a wand made out of Holly with a Phoenix Feather as a core which according to Ollivander was a very powerful wand. Harry however was a bit distracted by the blue screen that appeared once he received the wand.

**You have acquired a key item. You are now in possession of your wand and are now able to do Magic. MP is now available in your Status screen.**

**When [Holly Wand] is equipped you get [+10% increase in MP] and [-20% MP Cost for all Spells]**

Harry tried to ignore the screen and his eagerness to check out his new status but another screen appeared.

**You discovered your Magical Heritage and are prepared to step into your parent's footsteps. You have gained the title 'Wizard'. **

**Your level has increased by 1. **

Harry quickly closed the windows and focused on Mr. Olivander who was still talking about how wands choose the Wizards. Harry didn't really follow as he had missed the beginning but he simple nodded and followed McGonagall out. She seemed to be quite distressed for some reason and Harry wondered if he should ask her about it but in the end he decided to keep quiet. He didn't want to offend the older Witch.

"Well, Mr. Potter, I think that is all." McGonagall said. "Now, I will put a Shrinking Charm on your supplies so that we can move around freely while we head back to your relatives. The Charm will last just long enough to unpack everything and not longer. Also, I must warn you not to do any Magic outside of Hogwarts. It's strictly forbidden for underage Witches and Wizards to perform Magic and the penalties can be quite severe. So please, do not use any Magic."

"I understand." Harry nodded a bit disappointed. He had been looking forward to trying out some spells.

It only took a few moments for Harry and Minerva to reach Privet Drive again and get everything unloaded. Harry had to lie a bit about his cupboard saying that this was where they stored all his old stuff. Minerva didn't look very convinced but after glaring at his aunt and uncle, she let it go. She then undid the Shrinking Charm and told Harry that she expected to see him at Hogwarts on September 1st. Harry thanked her for her great help and promised that he would be on his best behavior.

"If you are anything like your father, Mr. Potter, then I sincerely doubt that." She said with a small smile on her stern face.

**You are now officially a First Year Student at Hogwarts. You have received the status 'First Year Student'. This status comes with a buff of +2 VIT, +1 INT per Level gained.**

Once she left, Harry quickly put all his belongings in his Inventory so his relatives couldn't take them away. Luckily, the professor seemed to have intimidated them enough because Harry didn't see nor hear from them until the next morning. So as he was sitting in his cupboard, he recounted the events of today. There was a lot to process and he thanked his 'Gamer Mind' as it allowed him to process everything calmly and without freaking out. He was sure that if he didn't have that, he would have flipped the switch hours ago.

'So let's put that to rest for a bit and see what gaining a new level has given me.' Harry thought.

**Level: 3**

**HP: 300**

**MP: 234**

**STR: 7**

**VIT: 6**

**DEX: 7**

**INT: 5**

**WIS: 2**

**LUK: 5**

**Status Points: 5**

**Status: Boy-Who-Lived (+25% Experience), First Year Student (+2 VIT, +1 INT per Level)**

**Harry Potter is last member of the Potter Family. Upon discovering his Magical Heritage, Harry Potter learned about his past as well. Finding out that he's a Wizard and that his parents were murdered by a Dark Wizard gave way to a whole new set of questions. Why did this Dark Wizard try to kill him? How did Harry survive a Curse that has killed thousands? What is so special about him? **

'Okay, so my HP increased by 100 points.' Harry noticed. 'Plus, now I have MP available as well. Other than that my stats didn't improve but I got 5 Status Points. What are those for?'

Harry pressed on the screen where 'Status Points' was mentioned and received a new screen.

'**Status Points' are rewards that you get when you level up. For every level you gain, you get 5 points that you can use to improve your STR, VIT, DEX, INT, WIS or LUK stats with. **

'Oh okay, I get it.' Harry understood. 'Since my status is now [First Year Student] I get an increase to my VIT and INT stats every time I level up and on top of normal leveling of stats by doing exercise or studying, I can use these points to improve. Let's see, I should definitely put some points in WIS since that's the lowest now.' He said and put 3 points into WIS, raising it to 5. 'The remaining 2 points I will keep for now; you never know. I might need them for an emergency later.'

He then looked at this 'Status' and saw that if he 'Equipped' his new wand then his MP would gain a 10% increase. Opening the menu screen, he tapped the 'Equipment' option, something that he hadn't been able to do until now, and saw a representation of himself on the screen. He grinned at seeing how he could equip several types of clothes and weapons on his person, just by dragging them onto the figure. For example, he could place his wand on the hand of the figure and it would be equipped.

**You have equipped the item [Holly Wand] **

**MP has increased by 10%.**

**Spell cost has gone down by 20%**

'Cool, let's take a look.' Harry grinned and opened his status screen once more.

**Level: 3**

**HP: 300**

**MP: 258**

**STR: 7**

**VIT: 6**

**DEX: 7**

**INT: 5**

**WIS: 5**

**LUK: 5**

**Status Points: 2**

**Status: Boy-Who-Lived (+25% Experience), First Year Student (+2 VIT, +1 INT per Level)**

**Harry Potter is last member of the Potter Family. Upon discovering his Magical Heritage, Harry Potter learned about his past as well. Finding out that he's a Wizard and that his parents were murdered by a Dark Wizard gave way to a whole new set of questions. Why did this Dark Wizard try to kill him? How did Harry survive a Curse that has killed thousands? What is so special about him? **

'Yes, it worked.' Harry cheered quietly. 'Not that I doubted it but still.'

Satisfied with his new progress, Harry decided to leave the rest for the next day. He was exhausted both mentally and physically after the long day and he knew he needed a good night's rest to let everything sink in some more. Besides, he still had a month before Hogwarts started so plenty of time left. With a loud sigh, he buried himself deep into his cover and was asleep in less than a minute.


	4. Chapter 4

**You have slept in your bed. HP & MP are fully restored.**

The next morning Harry received an even bigger shock when his uncle told him that he would be moving out of the cupboard and into Dudley's second bedroom. While his uncle gave him some excuses, Harry knew it was because McGonagall had visited and the Dursley's didn't want her to come back if Harry complained to her. So that morning was spent cleaning out the bedroom and arranging all Dudley's toys. Most of them were broken or just discarded a long time ago. Dudley hadn't been happy to hear that he lost his second bedroom but no matter what he did or said; Vernon didn't budge and thus Harry moved into his new room that afternoon.

The rest of the day was spent doing some Daily Quests which suited Harry just fine as it gave him some extra spending money. Not that he needed more money now that he had access to his vault at Gringotts. Still, that was Wizarding money and he wasn't really sure if he could get some exchanged into Pounds.

'I will have to visit the Goblins again and find out.' Harry thought as he walked home. His thought process was interrupted however when out of nowhere he was tackled to the ground.

"Got you now, freak." A familiar voice said as Harry looked up to see Dudley and his gang standing over him. "Pierce, hold him down."

"You got it, Dig D." said boy nodded before pressing on Harry's chest with his hands.

"I'm going to enjoy beating the stuffing out of you, Freak." Dudley boasted.

Now Harry wasn't for violence but that sure as hell didn't mean he was just going to lay still and take a beating like that. Thankfully his strength had increase several levels since last time he got cornered by his cousin so he was pretty sure they were underestimating him. Grabbing Pierce by the arms, he pushed the boy away and then in one fell swoop, jumped up and swung out his leg in an upward trajectory between Dudley's legs. When his leg made contact with his cousin's family jewels, Dudley let out a loud scream before he dropped to his knees.

Stunned by their leader's defeat, the rest of the gang reacted too slowly as Harry quickly put some distance between them. Dudley was still on the ground nursing his bruised testicles so Harry used that time to take a good look at the others.

"What's the matter, Big D?" Harry asked. "Not so fun being on the receiving side? Do you want me to call your mommy?"

"How dare you do that to him?" Pierce yelled defending his friend.

"What? You want some too?" Harry taunted. "I got plenty more where that came from, rat face."

**A special skill has been created through a special act.**

**Through continuous trash talking, a skill to anger an opponent, 'Taunt' Lvl. 1 has been created.**

Harry quickly closed the screen in front of him, keeping his eyes on his opponents. While he was still hoping that they would pack up and leave, he wasn't going to back down this time.

"You'll pay for this, Potter." Another one of Dudley's friends yelled.

"Bring it, Perkins." Harry said strongly. "Those who want to end up on the floor like 'Big D' over there, please step right up."

**[Taunt]'s level has risen by one.**

What happened next wasn't pretty. Punches and kicks were exchanged and while Harry took quite a bit of damage, he was the one that remained standing by the end of the struggle. He had lost about half of his HP to them but he didn't care at the moment. He was proud that he had stood up for himself instead of running away.

"Now, if you ever try to bully me again I'll give you the same treatment." Harry told them. "You stay out of my way and I'll do the same. Don't bother me again or you'll regret it."

**[Taunt]'s level has risen by one.**

**A special skill has been created through a special act.**

**Through standing up for yourself, a skill to fight an opponent, 'Brawling' Lvl. 1 has been created.**

**[Brawling]'s level has risen by one.**

**[Brawling]'s level has risen by one.**

As he walked home, Harry started to feel a little bad about beating up Dudley and his friends. He hadn't meant to really hurt them but his patience was running thin with them. For years they had used him as their personal punching bag and it had to stop. He was sure that he would regret doing so if Dudley told his father about what had happened. Hopefully Dudley would be too embarrassed to tell them what really happened and make up some excuse like he always did.

As luck would have it, Dudley did make up an excuse and told his parents that they had been beaten up by a gang of bikers because they tried to defend a girl from being harassed. Never doubting their son's words, Vernon had launched into a tirade about these useless bikers that disturbed the peace of others with their loud machines while Petunia had grabbed her little 'Dudders' and held him tightly to her chest. Harry rolled his eyes and went to his new room so that he would be free of them for the rest of the evening.

"Well that was lucky." Harry realized. "Let's hope Dudley and his stooges leave me alone now."

Opening his status screen, Harry quickly opened the Skill window to look at the new skills he had acquired during the fight. He hadn't really had the time to look them over yet so he was kind of curious.

**Taunt – Active – Lvl 3 – By using this skill, you can anger your opponent making him act rashly.**

**Brawling – Active – Lvl 3 – You have learned to defend yourself. It doesn't look pretty or refined but it will do the job.**

'Hmm, not bad.' Harry thought. 'Both of them seem useful but not something that will be easy to level up unless I go out and start looking for fights; which I'm not.'

Opening his Inventory he looked at what he had added after his trip to Diagon Alley with McGonagall.

**Plain work robes (black) x3**

**Plain pointed hat (black) for day wear x1**

**Pair of protective gloves (dragon hide) x1**

**Winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings) x1 **

**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) x1**

**A History of Magic x1**

**Magical Theory x1**

**A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration x1**

**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi**** x1**

**Magical Drafts and Potions**** x1**

**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them**** x1**

**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection**** x1**

**Wand x1**

**Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) x1**

**Set glass or crystal phials x1**

**Telescope x1**

**Set brass scales x1**

"I should read some of these books before I head to Hogwarts." Harry said to himself. "I don't want to arrive there and know nothing about Magic. If I'm as famous as McGonagall said, then all eyes will be on me from the moment I set foot into Hogwarts. I don't like it but I'm going to have to deal with this fame."

Harry scowled at the thought of how people would react to him as he made his re-entry into the Wizarding World. He had no desire to be put under a microscope all the time and be treated like some kind of air-head celebrity. While he could understand that people were curious about him and no doubt were thankful to him but he rather not be reminded to the fact his parents were murdered by a madman.

It still hadn't really sunken in that his parents were murdered. For years he had believed the story that his relatives had told him about his parents dying in a car crash but now he knew better. He just didn't know how to deal with this new knowledge. As an eleven year old, he didn't really have the experience to deal with this kind of thing. He did know though that he was proud of them. According to McGonagall, his parents had fought bravely against this Dark Wizard and his minions in order to give him a better future. McGonagall had also told him that both his parents were very intelligent and strong so he was going to make them proud by being the best Wizard he could possibly be. He wouldn't let their sacrifice be in vain and just squander his chance at a good life away by goofing around.

'I'll make you guys proud, I promise.' Harry vowed to himself. 'Watch over me, mum and dad.'

Harry then took out one of his books and started studying. He learned how people needed a wand to do magic though some wandless magic is possible in extreme situations. However to do really good or powerful spells a wand is needed. He also learned that in order to do a spell, you need an incantation and perform a special movement with your wand. Spells were classified under several categories such as 'Charms', 'Curses', 'Hexes' or 'Jinxes'.

After reading for another hour, Harry put down the book in order to process the information he had just gained. It was a lot of information so remembering all of it was going to be a hard task. He wasn't stupid or anything but he was no genius either. Good grades took a lot of work he knew. He smiled however when a screen appeared in front of him.

**Studying hard has caused your INT to go up by 1.**

**Studying hard has caused your INT to go up by 1.**

**'**That was fast.' Harry thought but definitely not complaining. "INT is pretty important so leveling up is always a bonus. Now if I could find a way to increase my WIS stat as well.'

You have slept in your bed. HP & MP are fully restored.

The rest of the week went by as usual for Harry. Every day he received his Daily Quests from his uncle to complete and most of them had become routine so they didn't even take up much time anymore. He had even received another Quest from Mr. Jenkins which had taken two days to complete due to the large amount of work. It had earned him another 1500 EXP and 20 Pounds thanks to Mr. Jenkins' generosity. Harry was especially happy about the additional EXP that he received. Unfortunately, he couldn't see how much EXP he needed before he would level up. That was kind of frustrating.

Thanks to the manual labor he had been doing he had even increased his STR and VIT stats by one point each. He was pretty satisfied with his progress so far but he wanted more. There were only three weeks left till Hogwarts started and Harry wasn't about to slack off. Today however he would try to go to Diagon Alley again to get some other books and exchange some of his Wizarding Money to normal money. Thankfully Harry had picked up some brochures while he was at the bookstore with McGonagall and one of them was for something called 'The Knight Bus'. According to the folder, the bus could transport any stranded Witch or Wizard to their destination. All you had to do was put up your wand hand and think about them and they come pick you up.

That morning Harry left the house before the crack of dawn and went to the park as he knew nobody would be around at this time. Just like the folder had said, he raised his wand hand and thought about the knight bus.

Sure enough, not a few seconds later a large red double-decker bus stopped in front of him. Harry looked at the bus in awe and watched as the door opened up for him to get in. Inside an older man was sitting behind the wheel and Harry wondered if he could even see the road as he was wearing very thick glasses.

"Where ya headed?" Another man asked him.

"Diagon Alley, please." Harry said quickly.

"11 Sickles." The man grunted. "13 and you get a cup of hot chocolate."

"Euh, no thanks." Harry said quickly. Judging by the state of the bus and some of the other passengers, he didn't want anything to eat or drink. He quickly handed the 11 Sickles and sat down at the end of the bus. As soon as he sat down, the bus drove off at neck-break speed, weaving through traffic and ignoring traffic lights everywhere. Harry felt his stomach twist and turn and hoped he wouldn't get sick. He noticed some people staring at him but luckily he had thought about disguising himself a bit. He was wearing an old baseball cap from Dudley that covered his scar entirely. He hoped it would be enough to keep his identity hidden.

Half an hour later the bus came to a grinding halt and the conductor yelled out 'Diagon Alley' so Harry wasted no time to get out. Honestly, he was glad to get out of the bus and into the fresh air. He didn't particularly enjoy the ride all that much and he doubted he ever would. Still he had reached his destination in one piece so he couldn't complain too much. Now that he was in Diagon Alley, he made his way to his first stop, Gringotts.

When he asked the Goblins if they could exchange some Galleons into Pounds he was, quite rudely if he might say so, referred to the tellers at the entrance of the bank. After waiting for about 20 minutes, he finally made it to the front and managed to get some Galleons exchanged into Pounds. He was quite surprised at seeing how much money he had now and was already thinking about what he would do with it. For now though, he had some shopping to do in the Wizarding World. He still had a few questions that he didn't ask last time so he figured he might as well get the answers now.

"Excuse me; I have a few questions about Gringotts." Harry asked the teller.

"Well make it quick, time is money." The Goblin snapped.

"Okay. What are the protections on a vault? What happens to the old key when a new one is made? Can I get an overview of the contents of my vault?" Harry quickly asked. "Did my parents or family have any vaults here besides the one that they opened in my name?"

"Our vaults are protected by the latest security spells. Anyone trying to gain access to a vault that they aren't keyed into will regret doing so. The higher the level of protection, the more expensive it gets. Currently, your vault is protected by standard level security spells. Should you want to upgrade, you'll have to make an appointment with our Chief of Security." The Goblin explained. "When a new key is made, the old key is automatically destroyed so there are no double keys. Also every key is spelled so that only that key can open the vault. Should anyone use a key that is not compatible with the spells on the vault, they will not enjoy the consequences. An overview of your vault can be requested. It will cost you 2 Galleons and the results will be mailed to you by owl. Do you wish to have an overview?"

"Yes please." Harry nodded politely.

"The cost of the overview will be deducted from your vault." The Goblin informed him. "The Potter Family has been a client of Gringotts for many years; the Potter family vault has been closed till you reach majority. Currently you have no access to that vault so don't try. Your Trust vault will have to serve you till you reach age 17 so spend it wisely."

Seeing that his Trust Vault had been filled by stacks of gold, silver and bronze coins, Harry doubted that he would ever need to worry about running out of money. Still, it wouldn't hurt to be careful and not splurge it on unnecessary things.

He thanked the Goblin for his help and bid him a good day. The Goblin in question just grunted and called the next customer.

'So rude.' Harry thought as he exited the bank.

His next stop was the Magical Menagerie as he still needed a pet. Hogwarts allowed for students to have one pet that they could take with them and Harry wanted one as well. He hadn't had the time with McGonagall but now he could take his time and choose one. He had thought about getting a cat or an owl, as either would be a cool companion. He knew however that his relatives would never allow an animal in the house.

Entering the shop he started browsing all the different kind of animals that were on display. He passed the Owls, Toads and Cats but no matter what he tried or did every animal seemed to reject him. Whenever he tried to approach them, they would start to hiss or try to scratch him. On owl even tried to bit him in the fingers. Feeling a bit heartbroken and being denied by every animal, he moved on to the other sections. A snake seemed interesting as he could speak to them but he knew that Snakes had somewhat of a bad reputation so he passed on those as well. He knew he shouldn't just dismiss something because of general convention but seeing that he would already be under a microscope when he arrived at Hogwarts, he didn't want to add oil to the fire.

The next animal he saw however immediately had his interests. It was a white Falcon, a Gyrfalcon to be exact and Harry loved it. Its eyes showed the intelligence of the species and it looked absolutely marvelous. Cautiously he approached it and watched as the falcon studied him. Seeing that the falcon didn't react violently to his presence, Harry raised his hand and softly caressed its plumage and head. The falcon seemed to approve as it pressed its head into his hand.

"Oh, she likes you." A voice behind him said, scaring him a bit. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's okay." Harry quickly said. "I was admiring this beautiful bird and was lost in the moment."

"Yes, she's magnificent isn't she?" The man smiled. "I'm a bit surprised as she normally doesn't allow anyone to touch her. She has quite the temper."

"How much for her?" Harry asked.

"She's expensive, let me warn you." The man told him. "100 Galleons to be exact."

That was pretty expensive indeed but Harry had been sold the moment he had laid eyes on her. He honestly couldn't care less about the cost; he had enough money to be able to afford her. Turning towards the falcon he addressed it.

"What do you think, girl? Want to come with me?" Harry asked it.

The Falcon let out a cry and flew to his shoulder before nuzzling his neck in affection. Harry laughed loudly and forked out the 100 Galleons to the man. He also bought some stuff to take care of her while the man explained a bit about how she would always be able to find him and how he could use her to deliver letters.

As he left the store, Harry told her that they would pick out a name for her later and that she could go and hunt if she wanted as he still had some shopping to do. The falcon gently nipped his ear in affection and flew off. Harry watched happily as she flew out of sight. He was smitten with her and he knew it.

'Alright, next stop is the bookstore.' Harry said getting back to business.

For the next few hours, Harry wandered around Diagon Alley, buying everything he thought that could help him. He bought several more books on Wizarding History, Magical Theory and others. Deciding that he had bought enough books to keep him occupied till the start of the school year, Harry left the bookstore and went back into the Alley.

There was still a lot to see and he didn't even cover half of the Alley so far. To his surprise the place was a lot bigger than he had anticipated and he was anxious to discover the rest of the Alley.

He grinned when a message appeared in front of him.

**Quest**

**Explore Diagon Alley and [Observe] every shop**

**Reward: Map of Diagon Alley**

**Some areas of Diagon Alley will not be accessible till you have reached a higher level.**

Harry accepted the Quest and got start. Figuring it would be best if he started at the beginning, he walked back to The Leaky Cauldron. Once there, he turned around so that he faced the main road of Diagon Alley. From there he slowly walked around and made sure to use [Observe] on every shop that he found. Once he used [Observe] on a shop, he received a message saying that the shop had now been added to the map of Diagon Alley. Not only that but it also gave him a good idea just what some of these shops sold as sometimes it was hard to guess judging by the names.

As he reached Gringotts once more, he made his way over to the side road of Diagon Alley but when he wanted to go there, a message appeared.

**Danger! This area should not be accessed until you have reached Level 20 or higher. Entering the area with a lower level will have grave consequences.**

'Yikes. Okay, I'm going to wait a bit to explore this part.' Harry thought.

When he asked a woman what was in that part of the Alley, she warned him that he should never go there. That part was called Knockturn Alley and only the bravest Witches and Wizards go there. She told him that almost every shop there was devoted to the Dark Arts and filled with shady people like hags and the likes. She also told him that more than one Witch and Wizard had disappeared while shopping there and were never seen or heard from again.

After thanking the woman for her help, Harry continued mapping out the main street of Diagon Alley. He now had a full map of the street (except the Knockturn Alley part) with the names of every shop mentioned. He had found a few shops that he would like to visit sooner or later. Since it was getting close to lunch, Harry decided to go get some food and then explore Muggle London a bit. As he exited The Leaky Cauldron, Harry found himself at Charring Cross Road and from there it was only a short walk to a big shopping centre. Now that he had some money, he wanted to buy some decent clothes that actually fit.

For the next hour or two, Harry tried on everything from jeans, t-shirts, sweaters and even suits. By the end of his little shopping trip, his arms were filled with clothes making the lady behind the counter look at him curiously. She didn't seem to believe he could pay for all these clothes but when he took out his wallet and place a neat stack of bills on the counter, she quickly changed her mind and started tallying up the clothes.

'At last, I have some clothes that I don't have to be ashamed about.' Harry thought happily. Looking like some hobo hadn't been very good for his self-consciousness. Satisfied with his day, Harry took the train back to Surrey as he wasn't in a rush and he'd rather not take the Knight Bus again if he could help it.

**You have slept in your bed. HP & MP are fully restored.**

Today was the day he would be going to Hogwarts. The rest of the summer holiday had gone by way too fast for Harry. Once he had gotten home from his shopping trip to Diagon Alley, time had flown by it seemed. Every day he did his Quests, studied his books and played with Shirohime, his falcon. He had given her that name as it meant 'White Princess' in Japanese. It was quite fitting as his new pet was white as snow and she had the grace of a princess. Not that to mention the character of one too. She was quite spoilt by Harry and she loved the attention.

As he packed his stuff into his inventory, he opened his status menu to look at the progress he had made over the last few weeks.

**Level: 3**

**HP: 300**

**MP: 258**

**STR: 10**

**VIT: 8**

**DEX: 11**

**INT: 9**

**WIS: 7**

**LUK: 5**

**Status Points: 2**

**Status: Boy-Who-Lived (+25% Experience), First Year Student (additional +2 VIT, +1 INT per Level)**

While he still hadn't leveled up himself, he was quite happy with how he was getting stronger. No doubt he was still weak compared to other Witches and Wizards but he was sure he would catch up quickly. For some reason he had a feeling that, once he started Hogwarts, he would receive a lot more Quests that would earn him EXP.

As he was about to go down and say goodbye to his relatives, a screen opened up in front of him.

**Life Quest**

**Get on the Hogwarts Express before 11 am today.**

**Reward upon completion: 1000 EXP**

**Bonus achievement: Get on the train without being recognized.**

**Reward: 750 EXP**

'What the hell is a Life Quest?' Harry wondered. As he thought of this a new screen appeared in front of him.

**Life Quests: a Life Quests is an event that can be completed for rewards. Some quests can be optional and some have to be completed no matter what. All quests come with rewards upon completion. **

'Huh, interesting.' Harry thought. 'So if I get to the Hogwarts Express on time and without being recognized I get 1750 EXP in total. That's always nice. '

Excited at the prospect of earning some much needed EXP; he finished his packing and went down to the kitchen where he knew his relatives were eating breakfast.

"I'm leaving for Hogwarts." Harry said. "See you next year."

With that he simply walked out the door, not even bothering waiting for a reply. Getting to King's Cross station wasn't all that difficult once he reached London an hour or so later and he had quickly found the tracks. However, he wasn't able to find any track that said 9¾ anywhere. When he asked one of the people, he got chewed out by the man for trying to make fun of him. Looking at the time he found that he still had a few hours to get on the train so he wasn't worried just yet. Surely, someone would show up soon enough and show him what to do.

'I'll just use [Observe] on people that pass by. There should be at least one Witch or Wizard in this sea of people.' Harry thought.

For the next hour or so Harry used [Observe] on loads of people but had no luck in finding anyone that might be able to help him find the Platform 9 ¾. Starting to get frustrated he searched the crowd in order to find some people of interest. Suddenly he noticed a small family that had one child that looked to be his age pushing a large trolley. Using [Observe] on the young boy, he grinned as he saw the screen mention the word 'Wizard'. Calmly he made his way over and followed the family and watched as one by one, they ran into the wall that separated Platform 9 and 10. He gasped as he saw them disappear into the stone wall.

'Okay, that's neat.' Harry grinned. 'Magic is so cool.'

Not wasting any time, he secured the cap that he had on in order to conceal the famous scar and ran into the wall. When he opened his eyes he saw a bunch of people pushing around trolleys and trunks and he had to move out of the way as one girl seemed to be hell bent on running everyone over with her trolley. Keeping his head low and not trying to make any eye contact, he marched towards the train and ducked inside. The train was pretty awesome and he would love to explore it a bit longer but since more and more people were arriving he needed to find a compartment. Finding an empty one at the end of the train, he sat down and closed the door. As he sat down a screen popped up in front of him.

**You have successfully completed the Life Quest: **

**Get on the Hogwarts Express before 11 am today: COMPLETED**

**Reward: 1000 EXP**

**Bonus: Get on the Hogwarts Express with being recognized: COMPLETED**

**Reward: 750 EXP**

"Awesome! 1750 EXP in the bag." Harry cheered as he closed the screen. To his joy another screen appeared.

**Your level went up by one.**

**Level: 4**

**HP: 400**

**MP: 322**

**STR: 10**

**VIT: 10**

**DEX: 11**

**INT: 10**

**WIS: 7**

**LUK: 5**

**Status Points: 7**

**Status: Boy-Who-Lived (+25% Experience), First Year Student (additional +2 VIT, +1 INT per Level)**

**"****Okay, so I leveled up so I got another 5 Status Points which gives me a total of 7 now. Plus each time I level up, I get an extra 2 point for VIT and 1 point for INT." Harry said. "Maybe I should use some of them to increase some of my other stats. Let's see, STR and DEX is easy enough to level up. All I need to do is work-out like I've been doing. VIT is important but I get 2 points extra now per level so that should be enough for now. WIS and INT are the most important ones. WIS affects my INT while INT affects my MP. So if I increase my WIS, then my INT will receive a boost which in turn will increase my MP. So I'll put 5 points in WIS for now, bringing it up to 12."**

As he studied the new stats, another window opened up in front of it.

**VIT has reached Level 10. Additional 10% increase in HP per level**

"Cool, so I can get extra bonuses when some of my stats reach a certain level." Harry noticed happily as he closed the window. "INT has reached level 10 as well but no bonus there. That's too bad but maybe I'll get a bonus when I reach a higher level."

He then spends a few minutes looking at these stats before he closed the screens.

'I should probably take out my trunk. I would be suspicious if I have no luggage at all.' Harry realized so he quickly pulled his trunk out of the [Inventory] and stored it underneath his seat.

He then settled into his seat and looked out the windows at the gathering crowd of students and families. He became a little bit sad at seeing how all the kids were there with their families to say goodbye and wish them good luck. For a moment he wished his own parents were there to see him off. He wondered what it would be like if his parents hadn't been killed. Would he have any brothers or sisters? A lone tear rolled down his cheek before he shook his head. It was no use to be stuck in the past after all. His life was different from the people on the platform and he knew that. He would have to deal with it to the best of his capabilities.

Looking at his watch he saw that it was getting close to 11 and so the train would be leaving pretty soon. Taking out a book, he started reading and tuned out the noise outside.

A few moments later the compartment door opened and a young boy stood shyly at the entrance. Harry looked up from his book and smiled at the boy standing there. He noticed that the boy seemed conflicted and was hesitant to enter. Putting on his best smile, he tried to reassure the boy.

"Hi, it's okay to come in." Harry said smiling. "No need to be afraid. I don't bite."

"O-oh, thank you." The boy nodded and dragged in his trunk. "I don't want to bother you."

"Nonsense, there's plenty of space for both of us." Harry said standing up to help the boy with his trunk. "I'm Harry, what's your name?"

"I'm Neville Longbottom." The boy said.

"It's nice to meet you, Neville." Harry greeted. "Are you a first year as well?"

"Y-yes, and you?" Neville answered.

"Yep, so we should be seeing each other a lot." Harry said excited. Neville seemed like a good guy. A bit shy but nice.

"I guess." Neville nodded. "Sorry, I'm kind of nervous."

"Yeah, me too." Harry admitted. "I didn't know I was a Wizard until one month ago. Let me tell you, it was quite a shock when I received my Hogwarts letter."

"S-so you're a Muggleborn then?" Neville asked interested.

"Muggleborn? What's that?" Harry asked not having heard that term before.

"It means that your parents don't have magic but you do." Neville explained nervously. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Oh no, my parents were both a Witch and Wizard." Harry quickly said. "But I grew up with my aunt and uncle and they don't have any magic. My parents died when I was a baby."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Neville stammered.

"No worries, you didn't know so don't feel bad." Harry smiled. "My dad was a Pureblood but my mum was a Muggleborn."

"So that would make you a Halfblood then." Neville nodded understanding.

"Halfblood? Do people really care about that?" Harry asked.

"S-some do." Neville nodded before he started explaining how some people, namely Purebloods, found the idea of Muggleborn Witches and Wizards offensive. He also explained that those who did were in the minority and that most people didn't really care all that much. It was mostly the older families that had existed for several generations that thought like that.

"Well, my dad was a Potter and from what I heard they were pretty old. I don't think he cared about my mum being a Muggleborn at all." Harry answered.

"P-Potter? Y-You're Harry Potter?" Neville asked shocked.

"That's right." Harry acknowledged. "Breathe Neville, no need to get all nervous."

"But you're the Boy-Who-Lived." Neville exclaimed loudly. "Y-You're famous. Everyone knows about you."

"Believe me Neville, I'm just Harry." Harry insisted. "I'm an 11 year old boy who is on his way to learn how to be a Wizard. I don't want to be special so please don't treat me any different from other people."

Neville nodded and seemed to relax a little bit. They quickly started talking some more and Harry used this opportunity to ask Neville a whole bunch of questions about the Wizarding World. Neville did his best to answer all his questions but he didn't have all the answers. That was fine for Harry; there would be other people at Hogwarts he could talk to. While they were talking, the train had filled up with all the students and now students were hanging out the windows saying goodbye to their families. A few minutes later the whistle sounded that it was time to depart and both Harry and Neville seemed very excited.

"Well Neville, this is it." Harry said happily. "We're on our way to Hogwarts. It's going to be great, I can feel it."

"I-I hope so." Neville nodded.

"Come on Neville; where's your sense of adventure?" Harry asked. "We're going to be good friends and we'll have lots of fun together."

"Y-You want to be friends with me?" Neville asked surprised.

"Of course, I want to be friends." Harry smiled. "I never had any friends at home so I'm planning to make lots of friends here. And you can be the first."

"I-I would like that." Neville said with a big smile on his face.

As they were talking, the door opened slightly and a face appeared in the opening. Harry and Neville turned to see a girl looking in and both smiled trying to be friendly and inviting.

"Hi, you want to come in?" Harry asked the girl.

"Is it alright?" The girl asked nervously.

"Of course it is." Harry said while Neville just nodded.

"Oh thank you." The girl smiled. "I tried two other compartment but the people were kind of rude and wouldn't let me inside. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."

"Well, you're more than welcome here." Harry said. "I'm Harry Potter and this is my friend, Neville Longbottom."

"Nice to meet you both." Hermione said shyly.

"So are you just as nervous as I am about all of this?" Harry said trying to break the ice.

"Oh yes, I hope I'm good enough, I have read all my books but still I don't think it will be enough." Hermione answered shyly. She didn't want them to start laughing at her because she had already read her books like her former classmates did all the time.

"Relax, there's nothing wrong with being prepared. I read my books as well; of course, I still know next to nothing but you have to start somewhere, right? I even bought several other books for reading material." Harry said shrugging.

"Really? You like reading too? I'm reading 'Hogwarts, A History' right now and it's really fascinating." Hermione beamed at Harry. Maybe just maybe she had found her first real friend.

"Oh, I bought that one as well but haven't read much of it." Harry said which made Hermione start an in dept conversation about her favorite books and subjects. After a few minutes Hermione wanted to ask a question but didn't know how to ask it without offending her new friend. Harry seeing her getting nervous about something asked her what was wrong.

"Well, I want to ask you something but I'm not sure if I should" she said hesitant.

"Don't worry, you can ask. I won't bite you know." Harry joked trying to reassure her. He had an idea about what the question could be.

"Are you really Harry Potter, the Harry Potter who defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort?" She asked.

"So I have been told." Harry nodded. "But I don't remember anything from that night so I can't really tell you what happened. Personally I think all this Boy-Who-Lived stuff is ridiculous. I'm just Harry nothing more, nothing less. I definitely don't need any hero worship or groupies." Harry finished.

"I understand, Harry. Don't worry I won't bother you asking about all of that. I just wanted to know, I'm very curious I'm afraid." Hermione said glad that Harry was just a boy like any other.

"Being curious is not a bad thing. To tell you the truth I'm very curious as well. So what do you think is going to happen when we arrive at Hogwarts?" Harry asked her.

With the ice broken, the three youngsters started talking about Magic and Hogwarts. They seemed to get along very well and they had a nice time just talking and laughing. Harry was eager to try out [Observe] on both of his new friends but decided to wait until later as he didn't want to reveal his secret by accident.

A few hours later they finally arrived at Hogwarts, and almost all of the first years were trying to look outside the windows trying to see the castle. Unfortunately they couldn't see a thing since it was already dark and the castle just wasn't visible from the train.

As they hopped of the train, a loud booming voice could be heard over the noise of all the students.

"First years, follow me." A large man yelled loudly. "I'm Hagrid and I'll take you to the castle by boat."

Harry didn't really know why the first years had to take the boats to get to the castle while the older students got to ride the carriages but he figured it was just tradition. From what he had seen so far of the Wizarding World it was clear to him that traditions were very important and change was slow and somewhat hindered by the people in charge. It seemed a bit like the opposite of the Muggle world where older traditions were slowly disappearing and change happened every few years, if not months.

After Hagrid got all the kids onto the boats they departed for a trip across the dark, cold lake which seemed to go on forever before they finally turned a corner and they saw the castle lights in the distance. Harry and Hermione were holding their breath waiting to see if the castle was anything they had imagined in their head thanks to 'Hogwarts, A History'. When the castle was clearly visible both of them just sat speechless in the boat staring at the beauty of the castle. It was nothing like they thought it would be, it was several times more majestic and overwhelming than that. The towers who were lit with light from inside, the moon gave the castle a mysterious glow that made them think about a past long ago with knights and princesses. Harry immediately felt a connection with Hogwarts, it felt like a welcome home kind of feeling and for the first time he felt right at home too.

While they were staring at the castle, they had arrived at the bank of the lake and Hagrid told them to get out of the boat and follow him upstairs. Still in a daze the kids followed speaking loudly about the thing they saw along the way, they saw moving portraits, speaking statues and much more. For those who had grown up in the Muggle world this all seemed so fantastic and new so they were very surprised by all these things while kids who came from the magical world had been used to all this. Hagrid led them into a large room and told them to wait right there until someone came and get them. He wished them the best for the sorting and left the room.

Harry and Hermione were whispering about how great Hogwarts was until a blond boy made his way over to them. Harry recognized the look on the boys face from miles away. This guy would be trouble, Harry just knew it, and he could feel it too. The blond boy was obviously quite confident and arrogant by the way he strutted over towards them with his head held high and his nose in the air. Harry sighed, he knew this type of person all too well, he was one of those people who thought they were better than most people because they had more money, prestige and wealth and viewed anyone as trash unless they were of the same standing. It was clear that this boy was from a well off family judging by his clothes and his arrogance.

"So, it's true then? Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." The blond boy sneered at Harry. Immediately most of the kids started whispering and staring at Harry who just sighed. He just had to say that aloud, why was him being here such a big deal to these people he wondered.

"My name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Draco said while sticking out his hand. Harry snorted inside, if this guy thought they would become friends he had a wild imagination.

"It's important for people like us to have the right connections; I can provide you with that. You shouldn't bother with these low class losers, they will only hold you down." Malfoy continued acting like he was the most important person in the whole castle.

Harry would have just ignored him had he not insulted his new friends and that was something Harry wouldn't allow, not from a stuck up blond twit who thought that he was God's gift to mankind. He was going to nip this in the bud before this became a too big problem to deal with. He turned towards Malfoy and stared him right in the eyes not blinking just waiting for Malfoy to react. It didn't even take 5 seconds before Malfoy started to feel uncomfortable and looked away. Harry took a step forward so that he was right in front of Malfoy.

"Malfoy was it? Look, I'm not sure why you think that Neville and Hermione here are losers but I can tell you already that they are not. Both of them have been nothing but friendly and courteous towards me. I enjoy their presence and I'm sure we'll become great friends. I'm guessing that you are one of those people that care about blood purity and all that drivel but personally I couldn't care less about that. I'm not letting anyone tell me with whom I can be friends or not. That decision lies solely with me." Harry said politely. "I'm all for making new friends since I don't have many so if you treat me and my friends right, then you're free to join our group. I'm sure Hermione and Neville will be delighted to make more friends as well. However, if you're a bully or a bigot then I'd prefer if you stay away from me. I have no patience for that at all. Seeing that you've insulted both of my friends within the first few minutes of being here, I think it would be best if you just walked away."

"Who do you think you're talking to Potter? I'm a Malfoy, one of the oldest pureblood families so you should show me some respect and be glad I offer you my friendship." Malfoy said trying to save his imago. It wouldn't do to be humiliated on the first day.

"I don't care who you are or who your family is. For all I care you're the Queen of England, I don't like people that treat people differently because of their blood or any other stupid reason for that matter. To be honest, I know your type. You think you're so much better because you're rich and as such your friendship doesn't interest me. Now leave us alone and don't bother me again." Harry calmly said. He wouldn't let this guy walk over him but he wouldn't provoke him either.

Malfoy was about to say something, probably an insult but just then the door opened and Prof. McGonagall walked in telling them to follow her to the great hall where they would be sorted. Hermione quickly followed Harry amazed at how he had handled the situation with Malfoy. She was a little scared of how Harry would react to Malfoy's offer but once again Harry had proven himself to be a great guy and an even better friend. She also wondered how Harry stayed so calm and confident when he confronted Malfoy, if she had been in his place she would have been terrified of standing up for herself. It happened all the time in her previous school where she was often the victim of teasing and bullying.

Those thoughts just disappeared when they entered the Great Hall, she was completely blown away by the magical feeling she felt inside the Hall. It was everything she thought it would be and maybe even more, amazed she looked at Harry and Neville who had the same expression on their faces. They looked around not wanting to miss the smallest detail of the place where they would eat and have fun for the next couple years. Prof. McGonagall told them to stand in front of the large table were the other teachers were seated and explained how the sorting was done. After her explanations she started calling the students one by one and placed the hat on their head. One after another students were sorted in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin and when Hermione was called she nervously made her way over. Harry wish her good luck and told her she would do fine, she gave him a small smile and sat on the small stool before the hat was placed on her head. A few minutes later the hat loudly called out "Gryffindor" and Hermione made way over to the Gryffindor table.

When Neville's name was called, Harry gave him an encouraging smile and a pat on the back. Neville made his way over to the little stool, almost tripping along the way, and pulled the hat on his head. It took a bit longer but once more the Hat called out "Gryffindor". Harry cheered for his friend as he walked to the table and sat down next to Hermione who smiled as well.

Suddenly a screen appeared in front of Harry and he quickly read the message.

**Life Quest**

**Get sorted into a House.**

**Reward: 2500 EXP**

'Well that seems like a pretty easy thing to do.' Harry thought closing the screen. 'Still, nice to receive another 2500 EXP for something that's going to happen anyway.'

Finally it was his turn to be sorted. As the professor called out his name, the entire hall fell silent for a few seconds before everyone started whispering about him. He ignored it and walked calmly to the professor and sat down. As soon as the Hat was placed on his head he heard a voice.

"_Well well; what do we have here?"_ The voice said. _"The last of the Potter family. Interesting, yes very interesting. That's quite a mind you have there, young Potter. You would do well in Ravenclaw, no doubt. But that's not where you belong. Cunning and sneaky too. Yes, Slytherin would do nicely. But no, you are not interested in going there are you? Loyalty, oh you have plenty of that. You would fight for your friends and those who need it. Yes, Hufflepuff would be happy to have you. But I feel that you want to be with your friends, no? Courage, yes plenty of that too."_

'It would be nice to be with Neville and Hermione.' Harry agreed.

"_Very well, better be GRYFFINDOR!"_ the Hat yelled.

Harry nodded and returned the Hat to Prof. McGonagall, thanking her and walked over to his friends. As he walked over to the Gryffindor table a screen popped up but he just closed without reading it. He knew that it was a message saying he had completed the quest.

Both of them seemed very happy to welcome him. The rest of Gryffindor seemed ecstatic at having him join them and he had to give out quite a few handshakes and received a numerous pats on the back. After that the sorting went pretty quickly and finally it was time to start diner. Harry was famished and couldn't wait for the food to arrive. He saw the old man in the middle stand up and assumed that this was Dumbledore.

"Welcome to our new students and welcome back to our old students. There's a time for talking and this is not it. Enjoy the food." And he made a big gesture with his arms and the food just appeared on the table. Harry didn't have to be told twice and started filling up his plate with delicious looking food. All the students were having a great time talking to each other about their holiday adventures or getting to know each other, people were laughing and having fun. Harry looked at his right and saw Hermione enjoying some pumpkin juice and a bit further a redheaded boy was attacking a whole plate of food all by himself, it looked like he hadn't eaten in days by the way he was shoveling food into his mouth.

After a while Harry started talking with one of the older students called Percy Weasley and he started asking about the teachers eager to get to know who was who and Percy started by describing them one at a time. But when they came to the resident Potion Master called Severus Snape things got a little weird because once Harry looked over to him he found the man staring at him. Harry was surprised that the man had a hateful look in his eyes, a look of pure dislike and contempt, a look Harry knew all too well thanks to his relatives. He wondered what he had done to make the man hate him or dislike him that much, couldn't be something bad since he had never met the man. He asked Percy a bit about the Potion Master and the things he heard weren't reassuring to say the least.

Finally everyone had stopped eating the Headmaster started talking about how glad he was that everyone was there and he gave a few warnings like not to go into the forbidden forest or the third floor which was strictly forbidden this year. After that he made every student sing the school song, which sounded horrible thanks to everyone just singing off key and with wrong timing but Dumbledore seemed to think it was just wonderful. He then dismissed them sending them to their beds since classes started early the next morning.

After being shown the way to their common room and being assigned their rooms, the students all got ready for bed. Harry was glad to see that he would share a room with Neville and a few other boys. They all seemed pretty nice and while he had to give them the same speech as he had given Neville and Hermione about who he was, they seemed to be accepting it pretty good. They were still a little star-struck but Harry hoped they would get over that pretty soon.

Seeing that all his roommates were already asleep, he took advantage to use [Observe] on all of them.

**Name: Neville Longbottom**

**Status: Pureblood Wizard**

**Characteristics: Shy, Kind, Lack of Confidence.**

**Level: 3**

**Name: Ronald Weasley**

**Status: Pureblood Wizard**

**Characteristics: Lazy, Inferiority Complex**

**Level: 3**

**Name: Seamus Finnegan**

**Status: Halfblood Wizard**

**Characteristics: Friendly, Confident**

**Level: 2**

**Name: Dean Thomas**

**Status: Muggleborn Wizard**

**Characteristics: Sports Fanatic**

**Level: 2**

'Oh, that's interesting.' Harry mused while reading. 'I'm already higher in level compared to Neville and Ron. In turn they seem to be a bit stronger than Seamus and Dean; who are a Halfblood and a Muggleborn. I guess that's just because Neville and Ron know more about the Wizarding World then the others, having lived there all their lives.'

**[Observe]****'****s level has risen by one.** **[Observe] has now reached Level 10.**

**You can now see more detailed information about the people or objects you observe.**

'Sweet!' Harry smiled before using [Observe] again on Neville.

**Name: Neville Longbottom**

**Status: Pureblood Wizard**

**Characteristics: Shy, Kind, Lack of Confidence.**

**Level: 3**

**HP: 280**

**MP: 160**

'Okay, so now I can see his HP and MP Stats as well.' Harry nodded. 'Interesting details to know. I'll probably be able to see their other Stats when [Observe] has leveled up a bit more.'

Harry then decided that he had gone through enough excitement for one day and closed his eyes. It had been a long day and as he lied in bed, he couldn't help but think that Hogwarts was everything he had thought it would be. He was sure that he would be able to have some great adventures here and hopefully make a lot more friends over the years. He almost couldn't wait for the next day to begin. But first, some sleep was needed.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Harry woke up pretty early judging by the fact that the others were still sleeping. He didn't mind as he was used to getting up early so he got out of bed and started doing his morning workout. As part of his workout he did lots of pushups; sit-ups; squats and a few other exercises. It had become a habit to do this every morning and he was hoping that his [STR] and [VIT] Stats would level up soon. So far nothing happened but he was sure he was close.

After his workout he quickly took a shower and headed down to the common room. Since it was still early the common room was deserted so he simply took out a book and started reading. Not too long after he started, people started coming down from the bedrooms and Harry quickly put his book back into his [Inventory]. Knowing that he would have to get his book bag and the necessary books out for classes, he went upstairs and got them ready. Of course, he didn't quite know his schedule yet so he had no idea what books to prepare. Figuring that he could always put the unnecessary books back into his [Inventory], he just put all of them into his book bag.

By the time he had finished that, most of the Gryffindor students were ready to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast so he simply followed them. Hermione and Neville were nowhere to be seen but he figured that they could join him later on.

Breakfast at Hogwarts was a pretty rowdy affair. Students were talking; laughing; complaining and Harry found that he kind of liked the atmosphere. Breakfast at the Dursley's was nothing like this he mused. While he was eating, Prof. McGonagall was handing out the student's class schedules. When she handing him his schedule, Harry politely thanked her and eagerly read the schedule. It wasn't all that bad in his opinion. Gryffindor shared classes with all the other houses and that kind of excited him. He was looking forward to meeting other people. As she walked away, Harry used [Observe] on Prof. McGonagall to see if he could get some information about her.

**Name: Minerva McGonagall**

**Status: Pureblood Witch**

**Occupation: Transfiguration Teacher; Head of House Gryffindor; Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts**

**Characteristics: Strict but fair**

**Level: ?**

**HP: ?**

**MP: ?**

Even with his improvement of his skill [Observe] he still couldn't see her detailed information which was a bit of a disappointment. He wondered just how high his level should be before he could see the details.

As he thought about it some more, Hermione and Neville had joined him at the table and they started talking about their schedules and how much they were looking forward to starting classes. As breakfast was about to end, Harry received a new message.

**Optional Quest**

**Get to the Transfiguration classroom in time.**

**Reward upon Completion: 500 EXP**

**Failure: incur the wrath of the teacher**

"Hey guys, if you're finished eating then maybe we can go up to the classroom? I really don't want to be late for our first class." Harry told his friends.

Both Neville and Hermione were immediately on board with leaving and so after asking one of the older students where to go, they set off. They still had about half an hour left so they weren't in any hurry. It took about 15 minutes to find the classroom and they were glad to have asked directions as it wasn't all that easy to find. The castle was enormous and they would have to get used to getting around. They were the first to arrive so they quickly took seats in front. As soon as he sat down, a screen appeared in front of Harry.

**You have successfully completed the Optional Quest: **

**Get to the Transfiguration classroom in time: COMPLETED**

**Reward: 500 EXP**

'Awesome, another Quest finished. As I expected, I'm receiving a lot more Quests here than at Privet Drive.' Harry thought as he turned his attention back to what was happening in the classroom.

Meanwhile, all the students had arrived but still no Prof. McGonagall. Only one cat had wondered in and jumped on the teacher's desk. The students weren't really surprised since cats were one of the allowed pets here at Hogwarts. So they simply figured that this was either a student's pet or Prof. McGonagall's. To their surprise however, the cat jumped into the air and transformed into the Tranfiguration teacher.

'Now that was awesome!' Harry thought excited. 'I need to learn how to do that.' What surprised him however was that even though this was McGonagall, there was no name tag above her when she was transformed into the cat. There had only been a question mark floating above her. Harry regretted not using [Observe] on the cat.

"Welcome to your first class here at Hogwarts." The professor said starting her lesson. "In this class you will learn the art of Transfiguration. Now, a few rules before we begin our lesson. First of all; I expect you all to be on time for every class. Failure to do so will result in loss of points and detention. Secondly, anyone who thinks that they can goof off in my class will be shown the door and will not be back allowed in. Magic is not a toy; it's a serious business and could result in severe injuries when being careless. Do I make myself clear?"

A loud "Yes, Prof. McGonagall" sounded through the classroom.

"Excellent. Now let us begin." McGonagall said and she launched into her explanation.

For an hour she explained the basics of transfiguration and what could and could not be done. She compared Transfiguration with Charms and other magical disciplines. When she finished her theoretical portion she handed everyone a simple matchstick. The students were a bit surprised a being given a matchstick but Prof. McGonagall quickly explained.

"Now, all of you have received one matchstick." She explained. "If you apply the theory that we have just gone over, you should be able to Transfigure the matchstick into a needle. Now don't be disappointed if you cannot do this right away. It takes some trying before getting the desire result. We will work on this process for several lessons."

Everyone got their wand out and started to try transfiguring their matchstick. However, it became quickly clear that doing so was a lot harder than expected. Half an hour later nobody had managed to get any change to occur in their matchstick. Lots of students were getting frustrated and here and there a nasty word could be heard.

Harry sniggered at that but remained focused on his matchstick. Remembering what Prof. McGonagall had said earlier during her lecture he waved his wand over his matchstick and envisioned the color changing into silver like color. To his surprise the matchstick did change color, albeit not entirely, to match the color of a needle.

"Excellent work, Mr. Potter." McGonagall said impressed. "Care to tell the class how you managed to change the color of your matchstick?"

"Euh, sure." Harry said flustered. "I first tried to make the change instantly but then I remembered how you explained that Transfiguring something is a gradual process. So I figured that instead of going for a complete change, I would try to do one thing first. I envisioned the color of the matchstick to change but only that, nothing more. You know; baby steps" Harry shrugged.

"Well done, Mr. Potter." The teacher said impressed. "Take 5 points to Gryffindor for that explanation. As Mr. Potter pointed out, it can be a big help in the beginning to simply break up the process into different parts. Give it a try."

While McGonagall was explaining this to the other students, Harry was reading a new screen that had popped up.

**Optional Quest**

**Earn 500 House Point by the end of the school year.**

**Reward: 15 000 EXP; 10 SP to be allotted to a Stat of your choice.**

'Another Quest?' Harry frowned. 'Well, it's not like I don't have enough time. But what is up what that huge EXP reward? That's just massive. If a simple quest like this gives 15 000 EXP, then I'm not sure I want to know just how much EXP I will need to level up at some point.'

After Transfiguration they had their first class of Charms given by the tiny Prof. Flitwick. Harry enjoyed his way of teaching and was looking forward to the next lesson. When Harry had used [Observe] on the Charms teacher, he had been surprised to learn that the man was part-Goblin but it was kind of obvious that Flitwick wasn't totally human judging from his appearance. He also learned that the man was jovial, fair and very proud of his job as a teacher. What almost nobody enjoyed however was the amount of homework they had already received from both Prof. McGonagall and Prof. Flitwick. Both teachers had assigned them an essay about the class they had had and how it impacted their future career as Witch or Wizard.

While Charms and Transfiguration had been really great classes where Harry could definitely see that both teachers were passionate and knowledgeable, the class he was currently following was a serious letdown. Harry was listening to his DADA teacher giving them the outline of this year's curriculum. The man seemed to know what he was talking about but the constant stuttering and shifty looks were very distracting.

"S-So for the f-first semester w-we'll be focusing on Dark Creatures such as D-Doxies, G-gnomes and a few others." Quirell stammered looking nervous as if he expected to be ambushed in this very classroom by the creatures he just mentioned. "After t-that we'll b-be turning our a-attention to a few very u-useful spells such as the [Knockback Jinx] and the [Wand-Lightning Charm]."

Harry sighed as this wasn't exactly what he had envisioned when he had heard Defense Against the Dark Arts. He had expected something with a little more punch to it but figured that starting out with students teaching how to fight a werewolf or vampire without the basics would be counterproductive. He figured that he would have to do a lot of independent studying in order to get stronger and learn the kind of spells he wanted to know.

As Quirrell was mumbling away about something, Harry used the opportunity to cast [Observe] on the teacher. Luckily, Harry had already learned how to simply whisper the command instead of saying it loudly. He had been casting [Observe] on all his teachers so that he could learn more about them. He still didn't get a lot of information about them though. His own level plus that of [Observe] seemed too low to get any detailed information about his teachers but even a little bit was better than nothing.

**Name: ****Quirinus Quirrell**

**Status: Halfblood Wizard, [?]**

**Occupation: Former Muggle Studies teacher, Current DADA teacher**

**Characteristics: Weak willed, easily scared **

**Level: ?**

**HP: ?**

**MP: ?**

Harry frowned at seeing Quirrel's characteristics and thought that these weren't really appropriate for a teacher. The man made him think of the kind of people that got pushed around by others and were too weak or scared to stand up to them. In his mind that was not the kind of person you wanted teaching young kids. Already Harry could see that some other students were noticing that they would be able to get away with a lot in this class. Kids could be like sharks and if they smelled blood in the water, they wouldn't hesitate to attack. Poor Quirrell was in for a rough year.

What surprised him though was the [?] in the description. He had never had that before and he wondered what it could mean.

**You have slept in your bed. HP & MP are fully restored.**

The rest of the week seemed to fly by for Harry and his friends and before he knew it, Friday had arrived. Today they a double lesson of Potions and then in the afternoon, flying lessons. Now that was something that Harry was really looking forward too. Flying seemed to be amazing and he couldn't wait to learn how to do it. So he was in a very good mood when he woke up that morning. Flying sounded wonderful. It would be awesome if he could fly together with Shirohime when she was hunting. Speaking of the falcon, Harry had encountered a bit of a problem when she had first appeared in the Great Hall.

Shirohime was a bird of prey and thus the owls that were brought by the students and the owls of Hogwarts itself were quite intimidated by her. Professor McGonagall and Hagrid had a long discussion with him about how technically she wasn't allowed into the castle but Harry managed to get them to agree on her staying with him. Hagrid agreed to build a small place where she would be sheltered from the cold and winds just outside his little house on the grounds. Shirohime hadn't been amused judging by how she pecked at Harry's fingers but in the end she accepted her new home. Harry did have to promise to visit her every day to spend some time with her.

Hermione and Neville had quickly gotten to love the majestic bird as well and often joined him when he went to visit her. Hermione had already used Shirohime to send a letter to her parents. Harry didn't really mind as Shirohime seemed to love the exercise and he had no one to write to anyway.

By the time lunch had arrived Harry's good mood had all but disappeared. Potion class had been a nightmare for him due to Snape singling him out at any possible time. It had started the moment Snape had entered his classroom. Before he had even given one bit of information about what they were going to learn and how to brew potions, Snape had Harry in his crosshairs. Accusing him of wanting special treatment because he was famous. Harry had wanted to deny those accusations but Snape didn't give him a chance. The potion master then asked him 4 questions that almost no one knew, well no one but Hermione.

He had managed to answer two of the questions but failed to answer the remaining two. This had resulted in him failing the Optional Quest **[Answer all questions correctly]** that had appeared when Snape started his interrogation. He lost 10 House Points for each question he didn't manage to answer. Still, he had been pretty angry for failing his Quest no matter how unfair it was. Luckily, he had managed to brew a Pepper-Up Potion that was graded 'Acceptable'. That had given him the following notifications.

**You have earned the Potion Recipe, [Pepper-Up Potion]**

**A Potion that can cure the common cold. It has the side-effect of causing steam to come out of the drinker's ears for several hours after it is imbibed.**

**Potion Recipes discovered [1/?]**

**You can review and study the Potions you discovered in detail in your [Menu] under the tab [Logs], and then select the tab [Magical Potions].**

**Complete the [Log] in order to earn the title [Potion Master]**

As he left the classroom Harry used a quick [Observe] had giving him more than enough proof that the man was a total arsehole.

**Name: ****Severus Snape**

**Status: Halfblood Wizard**

**Occupation: Potion Master, Head of Slytherin, [?], [?]**

**Characteristics: Petty, condescending, fierce dislike of teaching, hold grudges **

**Level: ?**

**HP: ?**

**MP: ?**

'Well, that's just great.' Harry thought annoyed. 'A petty, condescending Potion teacher that dislikes teaching? This class is going to be horrible, I can tell.'

What surprised Harry were the two question marks that came up in Snape's description. Up till now, he had only seen that with Quirrell and now Snape. He figured that his [Observe] wasn't able to give him all the information and some of it was unavailable to him because his level was still too low to uncover every piece of information. He wondered what the criteria were. Why was some information visible and other wasn't? Was it simply because his level was too low? Or was there another reason? There was still so much about his strange ability that he didn't know or understand.

"Come on, Harry." Hermione said trying to cheer him up. "Flying is next and you won't be able to enjoy it if you stay grumpy like that."

"I guess." Harry sighed. "Still; Snape was so unfair. I can tell already that Potions is going to be a pain in the ass."

"Language, Harry!" Hermione said giving him a slight slap on the back of his head.

"Sorry." Harry grinned. "But yeah, you're right. Let's forget about Potions and get to Flying. I can't wait to be in the sky."

"I can." Neville said. "I'll probably fall of my broom and break my neck."

"You'll be fine." Harry said but he knew that Neville was kind of clumsy. "Just follow the teacher's instructions and you'll be fine."

"I'm with Neville on this one." Hermione admitted. "I hate heights. I'm perfectly fine with both feet on the ground, thank you very much."

As they walked to the Quidditch pitch for their flying lessons, they noticed that once again they would have shared classes with the Slytherins. Now to Harry that wasn't much of a problem as he didn't really have an issue with Slytherin in general. There was only one problem and that problem was a blonde Slytherin named Draco Malfoy. The blonde little pounce had been giving Harry a hard time by constantly trying to insult him and his friends.

Hermione and Neville weren't the only victims of his insults though. Draco had something to say about most Gryffindor students. He just loved pointing out that his family was rich and that he was a Pureblood while all the rest were just paupers compared to him. Harry was already trying to figure out how he could get Malfoy to back off but sadly he hadn't really come up with anything. Well, there was the possibility of pushing him off the Astronomy Tower or the stairs but that was a bit too extreme for Harry. For now.

The flying lesson had started out easy enough. All they had to do was stand beside their broom and command it to jump up into their hands. For most students this wasn't really a problem but Neville and Hermione were having difficulties. Harry figured that Neville just didn't use enough force in his voice and Hermione was already shaking at the thought of having to leave the comfort of terra firma. So he quickly went over and helped both of them relax. After a few tries both had managed to get the broom to fly up into their hands.

After that it all started going downhill. As per Madame Hooch's instructions they were supposed to jump up onto the broom and hover for a bit and then have them touch down again. Neville's mind however blanked as he was hovering and his broom just shot in the air with him barely hanging on. No matter how he tried Neville was impossible to stop the broom from acting up and, just as he predicted during lunch, he fell off. Luckily he didn't break his neck but instead he broke his wrist.

Madame Hooch quickly assessed the situation and helped Neville to see Madame Pompfrey, the resident Medi-Witch.

"Hah, did you see Fatbottom?" Malfoy said laughing once the teacher had gone out of sight. "The squib should've stayed home. Losers like him don't belong here anyway."

"Watch your mouth, Malfoy." Harry said defending his friend. "Neville is not a squib and he has every right to be here. Now shut up before I made you."

"Oh I'm so scared." Malfoy said pretending to shake in fear. "You're pathetic Potter; hanging around with those losers. You could do much better."

"I'm good where I am." Harry said determined. "I don't care about blood and how rich people are. Hell, I don't care about which House you're in. If I want to be friends with someone then no one is going to stop me."

"Whatever." Malfoy snorted. "Well, look here. It's Fatbottom's Remembrall. Guess he forgot to hold onto his broom."

"Give that back, Malfoy." Hermione asked. "It's Neville's."

"Shut up Granger, if there's anyone that's even less qualified to be here then that fat arse, it's you." Malfoy snapped.

"Give it here." Harry said holding out his hand. "Don't make me come get it."

"That's exactly what I want you to do, Potter." Malfoy said before mounting his broom. Without a word he shot up into the air and waited.

Harry wasn't about to be intimidated and he too jumped on his broom and followed Malfoy up into the air. The ease at which he had done so must have surprised Malfoy as he almost dropped the Remembrall. He recovered quickly though and move out of the way as Harry reached him.

"Give it here." Harry asked once more. "Before I knock you off your broom."

"Sure, here you go." Malfoy said hovering towards Harry. But just as harry reached out his hand Malfoy turned around and threw the ball up into the air. "Why don't you catch it?"

Harry growled at being tricked but shot forward on his broom. The glass ball was already plummeting towards the ground and Harry pushed his broom downwards. People shrieked in fear as Harry got closer and closer to the ground and some of them turned away so that they wouldn't see him crash. Harry was in full control however and continued his trajectory. Just as he was about to crash into the ground his hand caught the Remembrall and he pulled up with all his strength, managing to avoid crashing. People were cheering while Malfoy, who had landed already, looked on in shock at what his rival had done.

Harry landed with a large grin on his face and quickly read the message that had popped up.

**A special skill has been created through a special act.**

**By using a broomstick, you have learned the skill, 'Flying' Lvl. 1, EXP: 0%.**

What Harry also noticed was that since [Observe] had reached Level 10, he could now see the level of EXP he had earned per skill. That came in handy as it allowed him to know approximately when he would level up the skill.

Just as he closed the screen he heard his name being yelled by Prof. McGonagall. Harry gulped in fear as she looked absolutely livid. He was pretty sure that she would have his head and expel him on the spot but it seemed he was mistaken as she simply told him to follow her. She then introduced him to a certain Oliver Wood as the new Gryffindor Seeker. Wood looked skeptical at first until McGonagall told him what she had seen Harry do. By the end of her explanation, Wood was absolutely giddy. Harry still didn't have a clue what was going on, he would have to ask Wood more information later that night as to what had just occurred.

As he joined Neville and Hermione when they went down to the Great Hall for dinner, he was forced to explain everything that had happened. It took him the entire way down and needless to say both his friends were surprised and shocked.

"So McGonagall appointed you Seeker? Just like that?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, didn't even give me a chance to refuse." Harry said laughing. "Not that I would have but still it would have been nice to be given a choice in the matter."

"That was really irresponsible of you Harry." Hermione said angry. "I thought you were going to crash for sure. I was sick with worry."

"Sorry Hermione, I didn't mean to scare you but I really couldn't let Malfoy get away with it." Harry apologized sincerely. "He was being an idiot."

"I know but please be more careful next time." Hermione said.

When Malfoy learned that Harry had been appointed Seeker thanks to his actions he had been furious. He went straight to his Head of House, Prof. Snape and demanded that he too would be become Seeker for the Slytherin house. Snape had no intention however to comply with a first year's demand and sent Malfoy packing. Harry thought it was poetic justice.

**You have slept in your bed. HP & MP are fully restored.**

As Harry woke up the next day he decided that some exploring was in order. Since it was Saturday and he had finished most of his homework already, he had another day of exploring ahead of him. Neville was still snoring away so he would be on his own but that didn't bother Harry at all. He was used to being alone after all. Plus it would allow him to use his special power without having to fear of someone hearing or seeing him. Still he had to be careful in not to be seen if possible.

His first stop was the library. Strangely enough the library was open from early in the morning till 8pm. He was hoping to find some interesting books that would aid him in getting stronger. He almost yelped in surprise when a message appeared in front of him.

**Quest**

**Make your way to the library unseen.**

**Rewards: 500 EXP; New Skill [Ninja]**

'A new skill as a reward?' Harry thought surprised. 'That's a first. But that [Ninja] Skill sounds awesome. I want it.'

Harry sneaked out of his dorm and into the common room. Peaking out of the large portrait at the entrance of the room, he quickly darted out and into the shadows on the opposite side of the hallway. Thankfully the castle was filled with nooks and crannies where people could hide. As he was currently on the 7th floor and the library was on the 4th, he had to make to through 3 floors without being seen. Seeing at it was still pretty early Harry hoped that not many people were already wondering around.

Making his way to the stairway, he peaked over the balustrade and saw that the coast was clear. He quickly went down the stairs and hid into an alcove just next to the stairs. For a few minutes he waited there trying to hear if anyone was coming. Hearing nothing he made his way down to the corridor. Hogwarts had a pretty complicated layout. For example, you could not go from the 6th floor stairs directly to the 5th floor. Instead you had to cross several corridors and hallways filled with classrooms before you reached the stairs going to the 5th floor.

Reaching the stairs after spending quite a bit of time to get there, Harry found himself in a pickle. Just down the stairs the surly Mr. Filch was mopping the floor. Seeing that there was no way to get past him without being seen, Harry had no choice but to wait until the man finished his job. It took the man more than 20 minutes to finish and to leave far enough for Harry to be comfortable leaving his hiding place. As he sneaked down to the 5th floor, he made special notice to look out for Mrs. Norris, Filtch's cat.

From the 5th floor it was pretty easy to get the 4th floor as there was a stairway just on the opposite side of the hallway. Ducking in and out of hiding places, Harry soon reached the stairway and made his way down. The library was just on the end of the corridor but Harry knew that Peeves likes to haunt this place as many students used the Library. Not seeing the poltergeist he quickly ran to the library door and slipped inside. As he walked inside, a screen appeared.

**You have successfully completed the Quest: **

**Make your way to the library unseen**

**Rewards: 500 EXP; New Skill [Ninja]**

Opening his SKILL menu, he quickly tapped the [Ninja] skill and read the description.

**Ninja – Active – Lvl 1 –** **EXP: 0% **–**: This skill allows you to blend into the shadows and sneak around without being seen. The higher your skill level is, the less chance of being spotted.**

"Sweet!" Harry said happily. "That's a good skill to have. I'll have to make sure to get that one leveled up quickly."

The library was huge as Harry realized. There was absolutely no way he would be able to check the entire library in just one day. There were over ten thousand books, if not more, to choose from and while he doubted that every book there would be of use, it would take forever to search every shelf. So he decided on a system. He would gradually move along the library and see if he could find anything. Starting at the entrance of the library, he wondered through each aisle.

An hour later he still hadn't found anything and from the way it looked, he had hardly advanced at all in the library. Moving on the next aisle he started looking each shelf from top to bottom. Suddenly he noticed a soft glowing in the bottom corner of the middle cabinet. He raced over and grabbed the book. To his elation a message appeared.

**You've obtained the skill book [Shield Charm].**

**Would you like to learn the skill?**

Harry eagerly tapped the 'Confirm (Y)' button.

**You've obtained the skill 'Protego'.**

As soon as he pressed the [YES] option, knowledge about the spell was dumped into his brain. How to move his wand, how to pronounce the incantation, the weak and strong points of the spell were all being downloaded. When he opened his eyes he grinned at having learned his first actual spell. He wished he could try it out but managed to contain himself as no magic was to be cast inside the library. That would only alert the Librarian Mrs. Pince and she was a mean lady when it came to protecting her precious library.

He quickly opened his Skill screen and tapped the newly acquired Skill.

**[Protego, Lvl 1, EXP: 0%]: This spell creates a magical barrier that will deflect hexes thrown at the caster.**

**MP cost: 25 MP**

"Okay, so the original MP cost is 25 but thanks to my buff of -20% MP cost on all spell, because I equipped my wand, the actual MP cost is 20. That would mean that at my current level I could cast this spell about 16 times before I run out of MP." Harry mused. "While not very impressive, it's not that bad either. I'll have to practice this spell a lot. I need a good defense in order to protect myself. I should find a place to start practicing away from prying eyes, as well. So much to do but so little time to do it in."

Focusing back to the matter at hand, Harry continued looking. Now that he had found proof that there were these kind of Spell Books in the library he wasn't about to give up. He didn't care how long it took but he was going to find them all or die trying. Now he had done about half of shelves that he had wanted to get done today and so far no other Skill Books had turned up. Still he looked on as he moved over to the next shelf. To his surprise he found two Spell Books in that particular shelf.

**You've obtained the skill book ****[Repelling Charm]**

**Would you like to learn the skill?**

"YES" Harry selected.

**You've obtained the skill ****[Repello]**

**[Repello, Lvl 1, EXP: 0%]: This spell can be used to repel items away from the caster.**

**MP cost: 20 MP**

"That's pretty useful." Harry said happily.

**You've obtained the skill book ****[Healing Charm]**

**Would you like to learn the skill?**

"YES" Harry selected once more.

**You've obtained the skill ****[Episkey]**

**[Episkey, Lvl 1, EXP: 0%]: This spell can heal physical damage by a small degree. Careful, serious injuries will not be healed by using this spell.**

**MP cost: 25 MP**

"Oh, a healing spell!" Harry said excited. "That'll come in handy for sure."

Harry continued looking for another hour but found no more Skill Books but he was satisfied with what he had gained. He had gotten 3 new spells and all three of them were very useful. Yes, they were low-level spells but he didn't care. He knew that by using them, they would get stronger so he planned on doing just that. Seeing that it was already halfway through the morning and students were about to start waking up, he decided to leave the rest for another day. Plus he was getting hungry and needed breakfast. As he exited the Library however, a new screen appeared.

**You have discovered and explored a new location, [The Library].**

**Every new location that you discover and explore will be added to the Map of Hogwarts. This map is available from your [Menu] under the option [Maps]. The more locations you find, the more detailed your [Map] will be. Newly discovered locations will automatically be added to the [Map] after being explored. **

'Cool, guess I'll have some exploring to do if I want a complete map of Hogwarts.' Harry thought.

As he entered the Great Hall, he noticed that only a few other students had already woken up and were eating breakfast. No Gryffindors were there yet so he was free to sit wherever he liked. As he loaded up his plate with some of the most delicious breakfast foods, he suddenly had a thought. As food in the [Inventory] didn't go bad, he could slowly stock up on food for when he went back to the Dursley's and never go hungry again. He would have to do it bit by bit but that didn't matter, he had an entire 10 months to do so. Grinning, he took a few pieces of fruit and some toast and carefully put them in his [Inventory] without anyone noticing. While he did get money from his Daily Quests now, he could save up that money for other stuff if he didn't have to buy food every day.

**You planned ahead for the future causing your WIS to go up by 1**

That made him smile as WIS was pretty hard to level up without using up any SP so any level up was welcome. While he was eating, Prof. Dumbledore had arrived as well and when he saw Harry, he lifted his cup of tea and gave him a salute. Harry returned the gesture and used [Observe] at the same time.

**Name: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore**

**Status: Half-blood Wizard**

**Occupation: Headmaster of Hogwarts; Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards; Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot**

**Characteristics: Eccentric; Forgiving; Intelligent and Powerful **

**Level: ?**

**HP: ?**

**MP: ?**

"Hmm, still no further information visible." Harry said quietly. 'Not surpsising as Dumbledore is hailed as one of the strongest Wizards of Modern Times.'

After finishing his breakfast, Harry left the Great Hall and wondered around for a bit. He hoped to find some kind of empty room where he could start casting the spells he had learned and start improving on his Stats. While he could do his morning workouts in his dorm room, he would prefer to have a bigger, open space. After walking around for what seemed to be ages he found an abandoned classroom, judging by how all the desks were put against the wall, on the second floor and decided that this would be good enough for now. It was out of the way for most people as it was nowhere near any Common Rooms. Closing the door, Harry grinned in anticipation and opened his [Inventory].

When he had come back from Diagon Alley in August, he had more than enough Muggle money to get some new clothes and training equipment. He had gone to one of the big sport related shops and let his money do the rest. He bought a sandbag that had its own stand; some ankle and wrist weights; running shoes and so on. Even when he had bought all of that, he still had more than enough Pounds left.

"Okay, first up is trying to increase my [STR] Stat." Harry nodded and grabbed the dumbbells.

For the next hour, Harry went though his workout routine with the weights. By the time he had finished, his muscles were screaming in pain but he felt very satisfied. He hadn't leveled up his [STR], which was a shame but figured that it wouldn't be long before he did. Deciding that he had done enough exercise for today he took out his wand and prepared to practice some of the spells he had learned.

He raised his wand and performed the required wand movement and incantation for the [Shield Charm] spell. To his disappointment, the only thing that happened was the tip of his wand glowing a pale green before it ended.

"Danmit, that's so not what I was hoping for." Harry muttered. "Again."

Harry continued casting until his MP was depleted and he couldn't cast anymore magic. The last time he had cast it however, he managed to cast a small shield like thing that looked like a baby could punch through it.

"That's a lot harder than I thought it would be." Harry said exhausted. "So now I have only 1 MP left. Now what? Does it come back automatically? Might as well get some rest for a bit."

As he sat down, trying to catch his breath, Harry tried to concentrate on regaining his MP. Closing his eyes he tried to relax until the telltale sound of the message cut his concentration.

**A special skill has been created through a special act.**

**By taking time to rest and focus, you have learned the skill [Meditate, Lvl 1, EXP: 0%]**

**By using [Meditate] you can recover lost MP points quicker. **

**MP Recovery Rate: 9 MP/Min.**

"Sweet, let's get to it. So it will take me about 35 minutes to restore my MP back to maximum." Harry smiled and started meditating.

For the next three hours Harry would simply deplete his MP and then restore them to the maximum. When he had looked at his Stats at the end of those three hours he couldn't believe what kind of improvements he had made. His [Meditate] had risen with a whole 2 levels and would help him recover 12 MP/Min; his [Shield Charm] and [Repelling Charm] spells had increased to Lvl 4 and Lvl 2 respectively. Unfortunately, the [Healing Charm] was difficult to level up as he had nothing to heal. So he had no idea if the spell worked successfully or not. Still his day had been productive and he figured he had done enough for now. He would relax the rest of the day and spend some time with his friends.

The rest of the weekend Harry had spent time with Hermione and Neville doing their homework and getting some studying in. Neville had been mortified at having to study already when they had just started school but Hermione had told him that it would help him in the end. Neville was quite intimidated by Hermione's fierce stance on studying in advance so he quickly agreed to study much to Harry's amusement. Thanks to the studying, Harry's [INT] Stat had leveled up with one point making him very happy. He kind of joked with himself that he was beginning to get addicted to seeing the message 'Level up' appearing.

A few days later Harry was walking to the Great Hall for breakfast when Draco made another appearance. The Slytherin had been making snide remarks about Harry whenever he got the chance and while Harry wasn't really bothered by them, it still was annoying to have the blonde following him around.

"Hey Potty, where are your 2 pets? You know; the squib and the bookworm?" Malfoy asked him tauntingly.

"Really? That's the best you can come up with?" Harry said rolling his eyes. "Wizards come up with the stupidest insults."

"You think you're so great don't you?" Malfoy said not backing off. "You act tough but you wouldn't last a minute in a real duel."

"Sure, Draco; whatever you say." Harry sighed but couldn't help but using [Observe] on the blonde.

**Name: Draco Malfoy**

**Status: Pureblood Wizard**

**Characteristics: Arrogant; Spoiled; Bully**

**Level: 3**

**HP: 310**

**MP: 215**

'Hmm, he's slightly stronger than Neville and the others in my dorm but nothing to be afraid of.' Harry admitted.

"How about it Potty? I challenge you to a duel. Tonight at midnight in the Trophy Room." Draco said menacingly. "Don't worry; I'll go easy on you."

'Like I'm going to fall for that.' Harry thought. 'He's trying to get me in trouble by being out after curfew. He probably won't even bother showing up.' He was about to decline the challenge when a message appeared.

**Life Quest**

**Go to the Trophy Room at midnight.**

**Rewards: 3000 EXP**

**Hidden Objectives:**

**?**

**?**

**?**

**Reward: 750 EXP per completed objective**

'Dammit, I have no choice but to accept now. And what's with these Hidden Objectives?' Harry cursed in his head. "Fine Malfoy, midnight tonight. You better show up."

"Oh, I'll be there." Malfoy said with a grin.

That night Harry sneaked out the Common Room and thanked his lucky stars that the Fat Lady was not in her portrait. Using the skill [Ninja] he made his way over to the 3rd floor unseen and managed to scoop out the Trophy Room as he was quite early. Thanks to his sneaking around his [Ninja] skill had risen with 2 levels already and he had a gut feeling that he would probably use that skill a lot tonight. Hiding in one of the darker shadows at the back of the room, Harry waited patiently for something to happen. He was pretty sure Malfoy wouldn't show up to duel as Malfoy was a lot of bark but no bite. He had seen that kind of guy enough when he was dealing with his cousin and his gang.

Suddenly he could hear footsteps and he strained his ears to hear more. Peaking from out of the shadows he could see Filch making his way to the Trophy room. Harry cursed softly as he knew that the man was here for him. Surely Malfoy had informed the man that he would be out here after curfew so that he would get in trouble. Knowing that his way back to the Common Room was now blocked, Harry had no choice but to flee in the other direction.

"I know you're in there." Filch yelled. "I'm going to get you expelled for this."

This, Harry seriously doubted; expelling a student for being out after curfew seemed a bit much but he wasn't about to stay around and find out. Silently he stepped further into the shadows and slipped out of the Trophy Room by the backdoor. Luckily that part of the room had been shrouded by darkness so Filch couldn't see him opening the door and leaving. Harry continued walking into the shadows of the next room. This room was filled with dozens of armors. Careful not to bump into any, Harry continued retreating into the room in order to put as much distance between him and Filch.

Again he made his way to the back of the room and waited, hoping that Filch wouldn't come all the way there. Sadly he seemed to be mistaken as he heard footsteps getting louder.

"Is there someone here, my pet?" Filch asked his beloved cat, Mrs. Norris.

'Shit, if that cat is here then she'll definitely find me.' Harry realized. The blasted cat seemed to hate students as much as her master did. 'Got to keep moving.'

Slipping out of the Armor Gallery, Harry quickly made his way through the corridor until he reached a big wooden door that seemed to block his way. Quickly but quietly he tried to open it only to find it locked. Cursing he tried to find another way but there was nothing that could help him. No nooks or alcoves where he could hide. He was pretty much trapped.

'I'm going to kick Malfoy in the testicles for this one.' Harry swore.

"Are they in here?" Harry heard Filch ask his cat. Judging by the sound, they were just at the beginning of the Armor Gallery so he had only a minute or so before he was discovered. Looking at the door he saw that it was locked by a simple lock and nothing more. Harry took out his wand and took a deep breath. They had been learning the [Unlocking Charm] in Prof. Flitwick's classes but he hadn't really managed to cast it just yet. He was close, the lock seemed to spring open but at the last second it would always resist and stay locked.

'No choice, I got to get it open.' Harry tried to motivate himself. "Alohomora"

The lock seemed to resist the spell at first but to his immense relief, it sprang open at the last second. Harry wasted no time and quickly slipped inside the room. Not a second later Filch entered the corridor and looked around only to find no one. Cursing at being duped, he walked away with Mrs. Norris in tow.

Harry let out a big sigh as he heard the man walk away. For a second there he had been really worried about getting caught and actually getting expelled. He sure didn't want to get expelled from Hogwarts for such a stupid reason. Not that he wanted to get expelled at all but if he was expelled, it might as well be for something big. Suddenly he heard a loud snort behind him, forcing him to look behind him. When he turned around he almost screamed in fear as he saw a huge dog with three head lying there.

'What the fuck is this?' Harry screamed inside his head while having his hands covering his mouth. Whatever the creature was, it was sleeping and Harry had absolutely no desire to wake it up. Taking a step or two back, until he reached the door Harry stared at the three headed dog lying before him. Quickly he used [Observe] to find out more about it.

**Magical Creature**

**Species: Lvl 1 Cerberus**

**A large Three-Headed dog that will guard his master's possessions until it's dying breath. **

**HP: 35000/35000**

'Holy shit; if that thing sees me then I'm a dead man.' Harry realized when he saw the beast. Deciding that being expelled is much better than getting mauled to death; Harry quietly opened the door and stepped out. He quickly closed the door and locked it back up.

'What is wrong with these people?' Harry thought as he slowly got over the shock of being in the presence of a creature that could probably kill him in less than a second. 'What is that thing doing here? I know Dumbledore said that this part is forbidden but man, putting a humongous dog in a school is just plain crazy. I'm going to have nightmare for weeks about this.'

**You have discovered a Magical Creature, the [Cerberus].**

**Magical Creatures are Creatures that can be discovered by exploring the world around you. Find all of them to gain new information, titles and bonus achievements that will help you in your adventures.**

**Creatures discovered [1/?]**

**You can review and study the creatures you discovered in detail in your [Menu] under the tab [Logs], and then select the tab [Magical Creatures].**

**Complete the [Log] in order to earn the title [Beast Master]**

'Oh so now I'm a cryptozoologist?' Harry sighed. 'Like I don't have enough on my plate yet.'

Half an hour later, Harry had managed to get back to the Gryffindor Common Room and slipped inside. Luckily he had the idea to leave the portrait open by just a few inches so he didn't need to wake up the Fat Lady to get inside. As he sneaked into his bed, he received a new message.

**You have successfully completed the Life Quest:**

**Go to the Trophy Room at midnight**

**Rewards: 3000 EXP**

**Hidden Objectives:**

**Avoid being caught by Filch**

**Venture into the Forbidden Corridor**

**Find the creature behind the door**

**Reward: 750 EXP per completed objective**

'Yes well, the rewards should match the risks.' Harry sighed. Earning that much EXP in one go was all nice and well but he would prefer not to face mortal danger for it if he could help it.

**[Ninja]****'s level has risen by one.**

**[Ninja] ****'s level has risen by one.**

**[Ninja]** **'s level has risen by one.**

'Nice, three levels in one time.' Harry said coming down from his rush. Gaining three levels in any skill was something to be happy about. Closing the screen, he wasn't surprised to see another one pop up.

**You've obtained the skill ****[Alohomora]**

**[Alohomora, Lvl 1, EXP: 5%]: This spell can open locks and doors. Some locks or doors are unable to be opened with this Spell.**

**MP cost: 30 MP**

'And finally managed to do the spell correctly.' Harry thought proudly. 'Now it's in my Skill set so I will be able to level it up more easily.' He had learned that he had two ways of learning spells. One was by finding Skill Books and learning all the information in an instant. Even then he had to practices a bit but he was able to learn the spell in a few hours in that case. The other way was the normal way, by studying the information and practicing the spell over and over again which took a lot longer to master. Once he had managed the cast the spell correctly once, it became a skill and he would be able to level it up like any other skill.

Again he closed the screen and once more a new one appeared.

**Your level has increased by 1. **

"Yes! I gained another level.' Harry cheered inwardly. 'Maybe I should thank Malfoy instead of cursing him?'

"Oh that's right, I still have my Status Points that I haven't use up from last time." Harry muttered.

He wondered if he should use them now or if he should save them for later on. A part of him wanted to use them all at once but another part told him to be careful on how to spend them. For now he would save them and think about it later.

**Level: 5**

**HP: 550**

**MP: 403**

**STR: 10**

**VIT: 12**

**DEX: 11**

**INT: 11**

**WIS: 13**

**LUK: 5**

**Status Points: 7**

**Status: Boy-Who-Lived (+25% Experience), First Year Student (additional +2 VIT, +1 INT per Level)**

Satisfied with his new stats, Harry closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


End file.
